Professional associations call for income tax exemptions

AMMAN – Professional associations on Monday called on the Lower House to exempt their investment funds from income tax. 

The request was made during a meeting between members of the Professional Associations Council (PAC) and the Lower House Economic and Investment Committee, which is currently discussing the new income tax draft law.

The law is on the agenda of MPs during the current extraordinary session, which started last Sunday, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The Jordan Engineers Association, with 81,200 members, is the richest syndicate in Jordan with investment portfolios worth hundreds of millions of dinars. 

The PAC members also urged the committee to exclude the funds of services and member fees from taxes, voicing opposition for any suggestions or plans to impose more taxes on people as that would harm low- and medium-income Jordanians, according to Petra.

The professional associations warned against what they called “instructions” by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to increase taxes, blaming the two international financial organisations for worsening economic conditions in the Kingdom.  

However, head of the House committee MP Kheirallah Abu Saalik, said the new tax law is in response to an international demand to enhance the Kingdom’s economic indicators by combating tax evasion through imposing stiffer penalties on those who evade paying their taxes to the Treasury. 

PAC President Hashem Abu Hassan said the associations, through their funds, share a part of the burden on state finances, particularly in terms of pensions and health insurance, thus these funds should be exempted from taxes. 

Abu Hassan was quoted by Petra as saying that members of professional associations, in addition to their families, represent around one-fourth of the Kingdom’s population.