AMMAN — Head of
Parliament’s
Economy and Investment Committee Omar Al-Naber said the government has
“violated the Constitution” by failing to hand over the 2023 Draft General Budget
Law to Parliament on time.
اضافة اعلان
He cited the fact that he, a member of the
Financial Committee, received the draft law for review “
10 days after the scheduled date”.
Article 112 of Jordan’s Constitution
states: “The draft law covering the General Budget shall be submitted to the
National Assembly for consideration in accordance with the provisions of the
Constitution at least one month before the beginning of the financial year.”
According to Naber, Jordan is the
next-to-last country globally in terms of time allotted for Parliament to
review and discuss the budget, after Mexico, Jo24 reported.
Furthermore, the MP said, the government
“did not take into account any of the recommendations” of the parliamentary
Financial Committee, despite the fact that some of these recommendations would
save Treasury funds.
The government is also expecting 50 percent
of its increase in revenues to come from sales tax on goods and services,
however, according to Naber, this is “unconstitutional in terms of progressive
taxation”, as the sales tax “is levied on the poor before the rich”.
The MP was referring to Article 111 of
Jordan’s Constitution, which states: “In imposing taxes, the Government shall
be guided by the principles of progressive taxation, coupled with the attainment
of equality and social justice, provided that taxation shall not exceed the
capacity of
tax-payers or the State’s requirements for funds.”
In progressive taxation, the rate of
taxation is linked to a taxpayer’s income or wealth.
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