ISTD refutes report about finance minister’s ‘tax evasion’

AMMAN — Income and Sales Tax Department (ISTD) Director General Bashar Nasser has refuted as “inaccurate” a recent report accusing Finance Minister Omar Malhas of tax evasion during his service at the Housing Bank for Trade and Finance (HBTF), the Jordan News Agency, Petra reported on Tuesday.

Nasser said that Malhas has disclosed his end of service gratuity as well as his income the year he received it from the HBTF, adding that the minister paid all the taxes in accordance with the law, according to Petra.

“The financial electronic records of the ISTD show that Malhas has paid all the income taxes,” Nasser said.

Nasser explained that, according to Article 12 of the Income Tax Law No. 34 of 2014, the employer deducts the tax from the employee’s income (in this case, the HBTF) and deposits it at the ISTD. “This proves the inaccuracy of the news reported by several websites.” 

Finance Minister Omar Malhas and ISTD Director General Bashar Nasser have filed lawsuits against the websites that circulated the reports, according to Petra.