Khaberni - The total domestic revenue collected from various types of taxes in the 2024 fiscal year budget amounted to approximately 7 billion and 249 million dinars out of a total revenue of around 9 billion and 578 million dinars, excluding revenues from foreign loans, showing that tax revenue is a significantly large figure, undoubtedly supporting the budget to cover its expenses. However, if we look at the matter from another angle and from a purely financial perspective, we find that these taxes pose a heavy burden on the economic situation of the country. Taxes, being fictional revenues, hinder investment and the movement of the local market and increase the rate of inflation.
The value of tax revenues collected in the budget, mostly from imposed revenues on goods and services, and income and profits tax, has reached approximately 4 billion and 775 million dinars for goods and services and approximately 1 billion and 950 million dinars from income and profits, which constitutes about 75% of the total revenues of the general budget. These collected taxes weaken the purchasing movement of the local market as taxes on income and profits restrain and reduce the community's purchases of market goods, thereby disrupting the daily economic wheel. Consequently, most individuals in society will resort to borrowing from banks, upon which interest and commissions will be imposed, thereby increasing their financial distress, significantly harming the local market, especially the trade and investment real estate sectors. With the continuation of this process, the state will resort to increasing taxes on the aforementioned values, thinking it will provide liquidity to cover ongoing expenses, but this process will lead to an increase in inflation rates and weaken the investment sector due to the unavailability of liquidity to allocate amounts for preparing capital, especially investment projects in the general budget. Thus, the state will have to borrow externally from international funds, which will burden the general budget with additional financial burdens due to the repayment of these loans from commissions and interests, as the value needed to cover the budget deficit for the fiscal year 2024 exceeded two billion dinars.
Therefore, it is necessary to move away from collecting revenues from taxes and resort to another more economical and effective method which is increasing the gross domestic product and the value of local exports from production and exporting them abroad, supporting the local industry in all areas, and providing financial and encouraging exemptions to investors, especially in the energy, electrical, and transportation sectors. With these steps, the value of the gross domestic product will rise significantly and will provide the necessary liquidity to cover public expenses without imposing taxes, which will positively reflect on the local market, increase the main purchasing power, move the economic wheel, and repay all external debts and loans. This requires significant effort and cooperation from all individuals and institutions and setting a strategic future plan for this matter.
Anas Al-Rawashdeh
