Cabinet announces measures to encourage paying overdue taxes

AMMAN — The Council of Ministers on Sunday approved the partial exemption from fines on overdue tax payments, which will be valid for 90 days after the new mechanism is publicised, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The Cabinet delegated related powers to the director of the Income and Sales Tax Department to work out the necessary mechanism to implement the exemption and look into any discrepancies that might occur during implementation. 

The decision stipulates that if taxpayers pay their overdue taxes during a 90-day period and pay also the fines as well as interests and civil and legal compensation, which amount to 9 per cent of the entire amount, then they will be entitled to 50 per cent of the value of the fines and the 9 per cent. 

In case taxpayers wanted to pay their dues in installments, they will have an exemption worth 25 per cent from the fines and the 9 per cent, provided that they pay 25 per cent of the total of their dues as an advanced payment and pay the rest in a total of 12 instalments over 90 days, in addition to providing bank cheques covering every installment. 

If taxpayers want to pay in more than 12 installments, they are exempted from paying only the 9 per cent additional payments, but have to pay the fines and overdue taxes in no more than 24 installments also during the 90-day period. 

If taxpayers default on paying any installment, they will still have to pay the rest of the installments, but all exemptions regarding the installments will be cancelled. 

Under the decision, accumulated public money claims related to income and sales taxes, their fines and the additional 9 per cent, and the civil and legal compensations, should be collected from taxpayers whose dues at the end of 2015 reached JD5,000. 

In case the defaulting taxpayers have filed appeals with courts, they should drop the lawsuits before they can benefit from the decision.