It appears that the waters surrounding the adoption of the new tax law are getting murkier by the minute.

The latest dark cloud over this issue was triggered when Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State Rajai Muasher served notice on all stakeholders, including Parliament, in no uncertain terms that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants Jordan to adopt the draft tax law in order to qualify for the $700-million Extended Fund Facility that it agreed to extend to the country in 2016.

If indeed this is the case, or rather has been the case all along, why all the "show" about consulting the public about the draft law before it is adopted. A little more candour would have been in order as this information should have been disclosed to the public right from the start, in which case the people of the country could be more understanding.

What complicates this whole process and makes it even murkier is the government's last word on the subject, which says that it is up to Parliament to assume responsibility for the adoption of the tax law.

True, in the final analysis and at the end of the day Parliament has to approve any legislation, whether it is about taxation or anything else, but the way the government is placing the final responsibility over the fate of the tax law on parliamentarians gives the impression that it is simply passing the buck on the issue to the Lower House of Parliament. This led the Speaker of the Lower House Atef Tarawneh to react rather harshly by sending the government a stern warning that Parliament "does not receive instructions or dictates from the IMF".

In other words, Tarawneh wants the government to assume its responsibility in no uncertain terms by pronouncing its own position on it before sending it to Parliament for endorsement. This looks like the right way to go about closing the curtain on the fate of the new tax law. Otherwise, the country would be going in circles with each side putting the onus on the other to reach the inevitable decision.