Changes needed to achieve fair social and economic tax policies — experts

AMMAN — A regional conference on tax justice in the Arab region on Wednesday concluded in Amman, witnessing the attendance of a number of experts in economic and tax policies and Arab civil society organisations, a statement by the organisers said. 

The regional conference, which ran for two days, was organised by the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), Phenix Centre for Economic and Informatics Studies, and the Jordanian Women’s Union.

In the opening session, ANND’s Executive Director Ziad Abdel Samad said that the Network had launched a programme to conduct analytical and field studies with a special focus on gender discrimination, in countries including Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine, in addition to Tunisia and Morocco. 

"The studies aim to highlight challenges faced by tax systems in achieving proper development and fair distribution of wealth, with a regional approach focusing on common issues related to equality in tax systems in those countries," he said, noting that "the studies put an emphasis on clear and apparent commonalities in the mechanisms of gender bias in tax systems".

President of the Jordanian Women’s Union Amneh Al Zu’bi indicated that the regional conference covered issues related to tax systems in several Arab countries, based on tax justice standards, the statement said.

He said the event focused on the role that could be played by civil society organisations to contribute to developing fair social and economic policies and achieve social stability and equality. 

For his part, Phenix Centre Director Ahmad Awad said the participants discussed tax policies in the region and their structural and fiscal shortcomings, which prevent the establishment of social and economic rights. 

"Despite the events in the region in the context of the Arab Spring, the majority of countries are still applying the same economic policies, including tax policies, which had led to the exacerbation of social divisions and saw Arab peoples take to the streets in protest of the setbacks that prevented the enjoyment of their social and economic rights," Awad pointed out, noting that Jordan has been witnessing a "heated debate" on the new income tax bill, which was approved by the government on Monday, the statement continued. 

The studies, which were presented at the conference, showed that taxation policies in the Arab world suffer from clear structural and financial shortcomings, which stand in the way of achieving the core objectives of taxation. 

These systems generally aim to reduce tax burdens on companies and increase them on consumers, through value added taxes, or to provide concessions and tax exemptions. Tax systems in the region are also characterised by weak tax collection and by tax evasion, which is partially related to the low capacity of related institutions and the growth of the informal economy for reasons related to “open” market policies, neoliberal globalisation, the youth bulge, rural to urban migration, and large waves of immigration, in addition to the nature of rentier economies, the statement read.

The participants highlighted the basic need for a qualitative shift in tax systems in Arab countries to achieve four concomitant main functions: redistribution to achieve justice among citizens; stimulating economic activity and contributing to directing investments; providing local financial resources for development and the public budget; and enhancing citizenship.