AKEED, Anwar Ziadat

In professional traditions, opinion pieces are considered open space for writers to present opinions, explain events, and express prevailing trends in society. The professional problem is for an opinion piece to turn into a news item, which is republished by media outlets, and to present the opinions and viewpoints it contains in the form of information. This was the case with an article by renowned American researcher David Schenker, director of the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute, headlined "Taxing Times in Jordan." The article expressed the viewpoint of the researcher of some economic aspects in Jordan and carried impressions that cannot be measured, chiefly the writer"s view that "complaining is a national pastime in the Kingdom."

It is noticed in the article, published on the website of The Washington Institute, that the figures and information in the text are not attributed to any source, reports, persons in official capacity, or experts. The article includes figures and data, some of which are inaccurate. It also contains attempts to explain economic conditions in the Kingdom, which is the business of the writer who is entitled to present the explanation he deems fit. However, the flaw lies in the fact that some Jordanian media outlets adopted this article and turned it into news material.

The key points included in the article were in the form of inaccurate information or impressionistic information based on stereotyping and general judgments. For example, it says that "historically only about 3 percent of the locals pay taxes," and "months ago in an effort to raise revenues the Government levied a 16 percent Value Added Tax or "VAT" on the population." The writer means in 2017.

The writer said that "complaining is a national pastime in the Kingdom," that "adding insult to injury, the price of Jordan"s favorite dessert, knafeh, has swelled from $6.50 to $9 per kilo," and that "$7 worth of cellphone talk time can now cost up to $12 to purchase."

Awni Dawood, assistant chief editor for economic affairs in Al Dustour newspaper, told AKEED that talking about a historical percentage for taxpayers is "inaccurate." The 3 or 5 percent cannot be deemed credible unless it is taken from clear and official reference studies. Governments used to announce these figures to serve them in terms of raising taxes as they were linked to World Bank demands.

As for raising the prices of knafeh from $6.50 to $9 per kilo, he confirmed that "this information is inaccurate," noting that knafeh prices were raised at tourist facilities (tourist restaurants) only.

Commenting on the statement in the report that "months ago the Government levied a 16 percent Value Added Tax or "VAT" on the population," he noted that generalization in these figures "is inaccurate." He explained that this tax has been levied on some goods for many years. The new thing is for this tax to include all goods, but this decision has not been issued. Besides, there are many goods that are exempt, including bread, rice, sugar, and others.

The article stated that "$7 worth of cellphone talk time can now cost up to $12 to purchase," while the decision stipulated an increase that does not exceed 8 percent, in addition to the new cell phone subscription fee, which is 2.6 dinars (paid only once when purchasing the cell phone subscription). 

As for the statement by the writer, David Schenker, that "complaining is a national pastime in the Kingdom," Dawood said that "this is based on impressions and is not based on scientific opinion. It bears a negative generalization about the Jordanian people."  Here, we have to note that some websites provided an example of positive practice by editing and paraphrasing the article, and not publishing the inaccurate information.

For his part, economic analyst Husam Ayish said that the government started levying the sales tax (VAT) in the late 1990s. Since then, governments have sought to raise and unify the percentage to reach 16 percent. It did not levy it this year, but it was raised on some goods this year.

On raising the tariff on calls, he noted that raising taxes on calls has been done over several years through levying many taxes. The increase did not happen this year. He said that the historical number of taxpayers, estimated at 3 percent according to the article, "could be close when excluding people who are not paying taxes, such as the unemployed, students, and Social Security pensioners."