26/10/2022

Dr. Hussam Abu Ali, Director General of the ISTD, said that the tax reforms implemented by the department achieve tax justice and serve the obligated taxpayers. These reforms are in line with international standards in addressing distortions, imbalances and loopholes in tax legislation for the purposes of combating tax evasion and addressing tax avoidance, which contributes to facilitating to the private sector and all taxpayers.

He added that the most important axis in tax reforms is the legislative axis, which included the application of transfer prices, standard conditions for incentives, the supply base for goods and services, the unification of tax administration, and a review of tax incentives in the Investment Environment Law.

During the seminar organized by the Association of Tax Representatives for its affiliates at the Amman Chamber of Commerce, Abu Ali indicated that the amending law of the Aqaba Economic Zone Law for the year 2021 grants the ISTD the powers and responsibility for auditing and collecting income tax and general sales tax in the Aqaba Economic Zone with the aim of unifying the tax administration, and the benefits and exemptions for those registered in Aqaba were preserved.

He added that the reforms adopted by the department had a role in increasing tax compliance and expanding the base of taxpayers, especially in the field of combating tax evasion, addressing tax avoidance and applying international standards, as these reforms did not include or provide for any increase on the current applied taxes and did not include any imposition of new taxes, as These reforms focused on combating tax evasion, addressing tax avoidance, applying international practices, and raising the efficiency of auditing and collection.

Abu Ali explained that the amending law of the General Sales Tax Law No. 15 of 2022 was aimed at justice, addressing tax distortions and imbalances, and reducing tax evasion and avoidance by taking measures that enable the department to combat and address them. The law also did not include imposing any tax on any new good or service, nor increasing the current taxes, nor canceling exemptions granted, nor did it include making any change to the obligated taxpayers.

And he indicated that the law will speed up the payment of refunds to taxpayers by reducing the legal deadlines to one third of the period in force and adopting the principle of disbursing refunds out of the tax collected and It is expected that within two weeks, the refunds will start to be paid to the taxpayers, according to the new mechanism.

Abu Ali explained that the inclusion of the principle of supplying goods and services in the draft law achieves justice among taxpayers working in the direct economic sectors and addresses the imbalances and fills the gaps that lead to tax violations.

He pointed out that the Transfer Pricing System No. (40) for the year 2021 was issued with the aim of enhancing transparency and tax justice among taxpayers through the use of a fair price in pricing transactions between stakeholders, as well as applying the standard conditions for institutions registered in development areas.

For his part, the head of the Association of Tax Representatives, Imad Al-Saud, thanked the Director General, Dr. Hossam Abu Ali, for his response to holding this workshop and for his continuous cooperation with the association and He praised his response to the association, opening dialogue with it, listening to the opinions and suggestions of the association members, and informing them of all that is new.