Gov't announcement of reduced sales tax on basic commodities draws mixed reactions

AMMAN — Following the government’s annoucement on Wednesday that it will reduce the sales tax on 76 commodities, citizens took to social media to express their thoughts on the move. Sentiments ranged from satisfaction and appreciation to frustration and anger.

Finance Minister Mohamed Al-Ississ said on Wednesday that the government has decided to reduce the sales tax on 76 basic commodities “deemed necessary for every Jordanian family, including food and school supplies”.

The minister noted that some of the goods were originally subject to a 10 per cent tax, which, under the decision, was reduced to 5 percent, while others were subject to 4 per cent, reduced to 2 per cent. 

Reduced commodities include fruit and vegetables, canned food and school supplies. The category of items with taxes reduced to 5 per cent also included dairy products.

Following the announcement of commodities that would be subject to tax reductions, the government received mixed reviews from the public. Divided between content and discontent, social media platforms were the medium for debates.

“I do not care if I buy an eraser for 25 piasters instead of 50 if the price of an apartment still costs me no less than JD50,000. Reduce the tax on things that drain us out of all our money. Reduce the tax on cars, real estate, businesses, customs, not pens and erasers,” Hamdi Assaf wrote on Twitter.

Others disagreed with Assaf, saying that the “government is doing all it can to help citizens”, as put by Twitter user Sleiman Ribhi.

“Jordan is a financially troubled country, and the government cannot take big measures on reducing taxes, its main source of income, so it is trying to substitute that with the measures that it can take,” Ribhi added.

The scope of the debate also widened beyond the type of commodities subject to tax reductions to include the government’s attitude towards financial reforms as a whole.

“This is an insult to the educated Jordanian’s intelligence. The government tells donor countries that it has ‘implemented financial reforms’ when what they are actually doing is reducing the price of turtles and spinach — is that what reform means?” user Hamdi Rawasheh questioned in a Facebook post.

However, others argued that the government is “slowly but steadily taking important measures to revive the economy, as evident in the economic reform packages it has launched”, as put by another citizen on Twitter.