Study says 75% of citizens oppose endorsement of income tax draft law

AMMAN — Two thirds of Jordanians did not look at the income tax draft law when the government published it on the website of the Legislation and Opinion Bureau, a pilot study showed on Monday.

The study, conducted by NAMA Strategic Intelligence Solution, also revealed that 25 per cent of Jordanians partially saw the bill and only 4 per cent read it all, according to a NAMA statement.

When asked if they wanted to further check on the bill, 20 per cent of the interviewed people said they “surely would”, while 46 per cent said that they might, and one third said they would not look at the draft law. 

The study was conducted between September 17 and 24 involving a sample of 1,247 people representing all regions of the Kingdom, with a 2.5 per cent margin of error.

Around two thirds of citizens said they think that the government will not be able to distribute tax burdens evenly and in a just way under this bill, according to the study.

Around 75 per cent of citizens stand against the Lower House endorsing law, while only 17 per cent agreed the bill should be passed.

According to the study, 86 per cent of those who fully read the bill, 80 per cent of those who partially read it and 74 per cent of those who did not read it, oppose endorsing it.

People aged between 35-44 formed the highest rate of those opposing the bill with 82 per cent, followed by people within the ages of 25-34. 

Geographically, the southern region included the biggest share of citizens who did not want the Lower Chamber to endorse the bill with 81 per cent, compared to 76 per cent of the central and northern regions.

Commenting on the study, Fares Breizat, chairman of NAMA Strategic Intelligence Solutions, said that public opinion, which rejects endorsing the draft law puts the government and the Lower House in trouble if they pass it, which may result in protests against both institutions. 

An overwhelming majority of Jordanians, or 83 per cent, oppose new taxes that aim to “improve public services presented to citizens in the health, education, environmental, transportation and infrastructure sectors”, while only 14 per cent agree with this.