Tax System Reform as a Challenge to Economic Reform: A Case Study of Jordan

Abstract

Governments care about the tax system and pay attention to it not as a tool for collecting money, but rather as a tool of economic reform, so that taxes achieve their financial, economic and social goals, and then achieve tax justice and protect the poor and middle class. Thus, this study came to investigate the effect of the tax revenue structure in Jordan on economics reform indicators (per individual income growth rate, public debt, openness trade, and inflation) as a challenge to the economic reform. The study population consists of the public sector of the ministries and public sector departments responsible for preparing the general budget and the Jordanian Department of Statistics, with the aim of relying on data issued by them during the time period 1990-2019. Multiple regression models were used to study hypotheses. The research results showed that direct tax (income and profits tax) in Jordan did not significantly affect the economic reform indicators, while there was a negative significant impact at a significance level (á ≤ 0.05) of sales tax on the economic reform indicators. Additionally, the study found that there is no significant effect of indirect taxes (property tax and foreign trade) on economic indicators relative to GDP represented in per individual income growth rate, public debt, and inflation. Among the recommendations of the study is that Jordan must develop the country’s public revenues from its own resources in order to reduce dependence on foreign debt.