Nexus of Corporate Tax Planning In Malaysia's Trading and Services

The tax is an essential part of the budget process, as it determines the distribution of financial resources at the federal level.This study examines the level of corporate tax planning among public listed companies in Malaysia following the 2017 Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance (MCCG) reforms.The study sample is based on 490 firm-year observations from 2012 to 2016 (pre-MCCG) and from 2017 to 2021 (post-MCCG).The panel data consists of trading and services industry data retrieved from Thomson Reuters Datastream.The objective of the study was to assess the level of corporate tax planning before and after the MCCG reforms.It also aims to provide empirical data on whether corporate governance affects corporate tax planning.The results show a significant difference in the effective tax rate pre-MCCG compared to post-MCCG.The study provides insights into the MCCG phases to identify the financial indicators that affected corporate tax planning during this period, thus providing information for upcoming research.