Some 90% of Jordanians see taxes levied on productive sectors as ‘fair’

AMMAN — Some 33,000 citizens have participated in an online survey launched by the government on the official Prime Ministry’s website and social media, with the aim of capturing citizens’ perception of the new draft Income Tax Law, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.  

The survey included a number of questions related to the tax burden in Jordan, tax evasion, exemptions granted to developmental zones as well as other topics related to the national economy.

More than 89 per cent of the respondents disagreed when asked if the taxes levied on various productive sectors were “fair”, while 11 per cent said they considered it a just taxation system.

Eighty five per cent of respondents voiced their agreement with the fact that some sectors were leveraging tax exemption in order to avoid tax payment, while 15 per cent disagreed.

On the fairness of the sales tax value, 92 per cent of the respondents said it was “unfair”, compared to 8 per cent who said it was “fair”.

For 90 per cent of those participating in the survey, the tax burden in Jordan is unfair, especially for the middle and low-income categories, while 10 per cent of the respondents said that it was fair.

Regarding the penalties currently imposed on tax evaders and their deterrent effect, 85 per cent of respondents said they did not consider them as deterrent, while 15 per cent said they were. 

Seventy four per cent of the surveyed supported the need to apply the principle of progressive tax, while 26 per cent preferred imposing a fixed percentage of the tax.

On the spending cuts, 67 per cent said that such cuts were “infeasible”, while 33 per cent agreed that spending control was beneficial. 

As for the agricultural sector and its need for governmental support, the survey indicated that more than 93 per cent agreed with this approach to increase the sector’s contribution to the national economy, while 7 per cent disagreed on this issue.

Asked about the impact of the decline in foreign aid on the government’s ability to spend on basic services such as health, education and infrastructure, 65 per cent of the respondents said they disagreed with this view, while 35 per cent agreed.

The Prime Ministry said it will conduct another survey on lingering questions related to the amended Income Tax Law.