Position Paper on Draft Income Tax Law: Proposed amendments and their impact on women in general and female breadwinner in particular

The draft income tax law of 2018 comes under a set of economic measures that the subsequent governments have been implementing, which have led to further economic pressures on the public and represented the main driver of the popular demonstrations that called for government resignation and withdrawal of the draft law- such demands were fulfilled after around five days of popular protests and

demonstrations.

It is worth noting that the draft law will have an indirect impact on the majority of lower and middle-class people. For many analysts, the draft law does not take into account the economic variance among the different segments of the society (for example between the high and low-income people).

Moreover, the draft law does not consider the purchasing power of the low-income people in the light of increasing price hikes nor the poverty line in Jordan. The draft also does not adopt progressivity as provided for under the Constitution and does not consider the large number of taxes paid by the public, which have a direct impact on their daily life. It goes without saying that tax is a national duty that is needed for Jordan’s development and economy.

However, the government should find strong justifications for compliance with paying taxes. In this respect, it is crucial to reconsider the taxation system as a whole. For example, we cannot address income tax in isolation from general sales tax and other taxes that increase prices of several goods. This has had a direct impact on the economic life of the citizens, and this will surely lead to community violence due to lack of financial resources.