Jordan’s Senate on Sunday approved a Lower House amendment to the draft law on income tax that would keep in place a 35 percent income tax on the banking sector, making the bill law, said the Jordan Times.
The amendment contrasts with a government reduction of the tax to 25 percent, as proposed in the draft law.
The Senate had previously refused the amendment; however, the Lower House remained adamant on the change in its session on Wednesday, the paper added.
Prime Minister Ali Abul Ragheb, during the Senate session, was quoted by the daily as saying that the government had hoped that the amendment would “bolster the financial market and revive business and trust in investing [in Jordan].”
He also said the reduction would have been a “qualitative leap in the march of economic reform.”
Deputies have stridently opposed the 10 percent reduction, saying that a budget deficit of JD28 million a year due to the break would not be easy to overcome – Albawaba.com
