A thousand Jordanians took to the streets of Amman on Thursday to protest an income tax law adopted in November under an austerity programme aimed at reducing public debt. The protesters gathered near Prime Minister Omar Razzaz's office, which was cordoned off by security forces.
"Down with the tax law," read one sign, held aloft by demonstrators calling for "reforms and change". "We want a government of patriots, not a gang of thieves," they said. Jordanian lawmakers on November 18 approved an IMF-backed income tax bill after making amendments to a controversial draft law that sparked a week of angry protests in June which nearly toppled the government.
The original bill, which the government approved in June, raised taxes for employees by at least five percent, and on companies by between 20 and 40 percent. These measures were left unchanged in the amended version. Smaller demonstrations have taken place over the past two weeks, with local media reporting the detention of 24 activists in connection with the protests. The demonstrators on Thursday chanted for their release.
The revised bill raises the threshold for households to pay income tax to 20,000 Jordanian dinars (28,000 dollars) from a previous ceiling of 18,000 for 2019. The amended legislation also introduced exemptions of up to 2,000 dinars per family for basic expenses such as education and health, and 1,000 dinars per single person, if receipts are provided.
With a lack of natural resources to boost state coffers, Jordan relies heavily on foreign aid and faces an unemployment rate of 18.5 percent. Stability in Jordan is seen as fundamental to the region and in the wake of protests Amman was offered a $2.5 billion aid package from three Gulf backers.
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