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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The Minister of Finance, Mohammad Al-Ississ, announced the government has adopted a high-level program to reduce tax evasion, ruling out the gov't's intention to hike taxes.

Speaking during a press conference held at the Prime Ministry on Sunday, he noted the government has undertaken "extensive" operations to combat tax evasion, which focused on relevant training and expertise exchange over the past months.

Jordan, he affirmed, has adopted a tax strategy to achieve tax-driven justice and improve opportunities for investment competition, which will preserve the rights of investors and improve Jordan's image as an attractive investment environment implementing fair tax laws.

Discussing money laundering, he said tax evasion treats this phenomenon as a major criminal evasion offense, as it manipulates financial accounts.

On the ministry's counter-evasion field efforts, he noted the tax raids on some sites are the last option after extensive investigations, stressing the government's focus on tax justice and distributing the tax burden fairly.

Commenting on consumer taxes, such as the sales tax, he said do not differentiate between rich and poor categories, adding income tax is a "fair levy."

On the current policy, he said the government decided to focus on tax collection through direct taxes, adding the main priority is to change the tax culture.

The government measures to combat tax evasion are not triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic's repercussions, but rather preceded the crisis, he pointed out.