Commerce chamber welcomes reduction of sales tax, customs duties

AMMAN — Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) President Issa Murad on Monday praised a Cabinet decision that lowers sales tax and customs duties on several items, noting that the decision would positively reflect on the Kingdom’s commercial activity.

Under the decision, which was recently published in the Official Gazette, the sales tax was reduced from 16 to 8 per cent on clothes, bags, watches, shoes, perfume, jewellery, toys and cosmetics.

Customs duties were lowered by between 30 to 5 per cent on these items.

Murad expressed his appreciation for the Cabinet’s response to the commercial sector’s demands to reduce taxes and fees on items that serve the national economy, according to an ACC statement.

The chamber described the decision as positive considering the Kingdom’s difficult economic circumstances and the decline in the commercial activity affecting different sectors.

The ACC also called on the government to reconsider taxes and fees imposed on many food items, whose prices constantly change to avoid entering the Kingdom illegally, the statement added.

Such a decision would contribute to curbing tax evasion and supporting social classes with limited income as decreasing taxes leads to lower prices and more protection for these segments, the chamber said.

Reducing taxes shows the government’s keenness to provide real social security to its citizens, the ACC president said.