Asian Basic and Applied Research Journal

The construction and allied sector is central to Kenya’s ambition of attaining an industrialized economy status by 2030, as outlined in the Kenya Vision 2030 blueprint. It is vital in driving economic growth through housing, infrastructure advancement and employment creation, fuelled by rapid urbanization and increasing infrastructure demand. However, publicly listed firms in this sector face persistent challenges in achieving effective tax planning. These include disproportionately high effective tax rates, weak corporate governance structures, complex and overlapping tax obligations, and heightened competition from imports all of which constrain strategic tax planning and compliance. Therefore, this study investigated corporate governance attributes effects on tax planning among construction and allied firms listed on Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). The study was underpinned by agency theory, stakeholder theory, political power theory, optimal corporate taxation theory and resource- based View theory theory, offering a robust multidimensional theoretical framework. An explanatory research design was adopted to assess relationships among the variables. The study targeted five NSE-listed construction and allied firms, using secondary data sourced from audited financial statements, company reports, and NSE publications using a secondary data collection tool spanning the period 2014 to 2024. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics for summarization and panel regression models for hypothesis testing. The study found that that corporate governance attributes which included board independence, audit committee effectiveness and ownership concentration are critical determinants of tax planning behaviour among NSE-listed construction and allied firms. The study concluded that corporate governance attributes shape tax planning behaviour among NSE-listed construction and allied firms.