Jordan: Business Environment

Accounting Rules

Tax Year: The fiscal year begins on January 1 and ends on December 31 of the same year.
Accounting Standards: There are no particular accounting standards. The standards must conform to recognized international principles of accounting and audit .
Accounting Regulation Bodies: JSC
Accounting Reports: Every company must keep a book of accounts, a stock inventory and a register of commercial correspondence. These documents must be kept in Jordan and be written in Arabic or in English.
Publication Requirements: The banking sector is obliged to publish its accounts.
Professional Accountancy Bodies: Arab Society of Certified Accountants
Jordanian Association of Certified Public Accountants , No website.
Certification and Auditing: The certification and the control of accounts in Jordan refers to the recommendations from the "Jordanian Association of Certified Public Accountants" which adopted, on January 1st 1980, the standards of the International Financial Accounting Standard. Only the auditors who have received this certification are authorized to validate annual reports: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Accounting News: IAS Plus
Website of Zawya, an Internet magazine on economics in the Arab world.
Al Bawaba, economic website about the Arab world.

Tax Rates

Consumption Taxes

Nature of the Tax: VAT is called General Sales Tax - GST. It concerns national products as well as imported ones.
Tax Rate: The rate of this tax is 16%.
Reduced Tax Rate: There are reduced rates for some products. Thus, 91 products (live animals, meats, dairy products, etc...) are subject to VAT at 4%. 6 products and services are subject to VAT at 0%. 18 products (basic foodstuffs, water, gold, etc.) and 31 services (education, health, charity, etc.) are said to be exempt. Income from exports is exempt from taxes.
Other Consumption Taxes: 9 products (cement, iron bars for building, mineral oils, beer with or without alcohol, ethyl alcohol, wines and spirits, tobacco, cars and subscription services to mobile phones and radios) are subject to a specific tax over and above VAT.

Learn more about Service Providers in Jordan on Globaltrade.net, the Directory for International Trade Service Providers.

Corporate Taxes

Company Tax: 14%
Capital Gains Taxation: Jordan does not tax capital gains.
Main Allowable Deductions and Tax Credit: Companies set up in the special economic areas benefit from exemptions from tax, social security contributions and Customs duties. However, these exemptions vary according to the economic area.
Other Corporate Taxes: Payroll tax, real property tax, social security contributions, stamp duty, University fee.

Country Comparison For Corporate Taxation

	Jordan	Middle East & North Africa	الولايات المتحدة	Germany
Number of Payments of Taxes per Year	26.0	21.6	11.0	16.0
Time Taken For Administrative Formalities (Hours)	101.0	194.1	187.0	215.0
Total Share of Taxes (% of Profit)	31.2	32.8	46.8	48.2

Source: Doing Business - Last Available Data.

Individual Taxes

Tax Rate

Individual Income tax	Progressive rate from 5% to 25%
JOD 0 - 2,000	5%
JOD 2,001 - 6,000	10%
JOD 6,001 - 14,000	20%
Over JOD 14,001	25%

Allowable Deductions and Tax Credit: Deductions and allowances are determined at JOD 12,000 for a single person and JOD 24,000 for a family.
Special Expatriate Tax Regime: The income of a non national working for a foreign company is not taxable.

Double Taxation Treaties

Countries With Whom a Double Taxation Treaty Have Been Signed: See the list of conventions signed by Jordan on double taxation
Withholding Taxes: Dividends:0, Interest: 7%, Royalties: 7%.
Bilateral Agreement: Jordan and Egypt are bound by a Double Taxation Agreement since 1997.
Download the treaty in Arab.

Sources of Fiscal Information

Tax Authorities: Jordanian Customs
Tax department of the Jordanian Ministry of Finance
Other Domestic Resources: Jordan Investment Board
Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority

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Intellectual Property

National Organizations: The organisation in charge of protecting intellectual property is the Department of Trade and Industry.
Jordan is considered to be the country in the Middle East, North Africa region which protects intellectual property the most effectively. It is part of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, and the Nice Agreement concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks. Jordan's joining the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works is being studied.
Regional Organizations: Jordan does not belong to any regional organization for the protection of industrial property.

National Regulation and International Agreements

Type of property and law	Validity	International Agreements Signed
Patent Patent Law 1953	16 years
Trademark Trademarks Law 1952	7 years renewable indefinitely
Design Industrial Design Law	5 years renewable for a period of 10 years
Copyright Law n°22 of 1992	30 years after the death of the author.	WIPO Copyright Treaty
Industrial Models Law n° 14 of 2000	15 years after the registration of the model.

Legal Framework

Independence of Justice: The Judiciary is not independent in Jordan and is subject to executive influence through the Ministry of Justice and the Higher Judiciary Council whose members are appointed by the King.
Equal Treatment of Nationals and Foreigners: Foreign nationals cannot be guaranteed an impartial trial from the country's judicial system.
The Language of Justice: The judicial language is Arabic.
Recourse to an Interpreter: An interpreter can be easily arranged.
Sources of the Law and Legal Similarities: The main source of the law is the constitution of 1952 (amended numerous times). The country’s legal system is based on Islamic law and French codes; as well as judicial review of various legislative acts in a specially provided High Tribunal. The country has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.
Checking National Laws Online: Website where the Jordanian laws are available.

Learn more about Lawyers and Legal in Jordan on Globaltrade.net, the Directory for International Trade Service Providers.

Standards

National Standards Organizations: JISM, Jordan Institution for Standards and Metrology Committee.
Integration in the International Standards Network: The organisation in charge of the standardisation of products in Jordan is the Jordan Institution for Standard and Metrology Committee (JISM).
Any product, whether locally manufactured or imported, has to follow the Jordanian national standards which, for the greater part, meet international standards. If there are no national standards for a specific product, this has to match the corresponding international standards. The JISM is a member body of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and an associate member of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
Classification of Standards: JS then a number then the year.
Online Consultation of Standards: Jordanian standards are available on the JISM website. You have to pay to consult them.
Certification Organizations: JISM Jordan Institution for Standards and Metrology.

Business Practices

General Information: Worldbiz, General website giving information about business practices.
Business culture website.
Opening Hours and Days: Banks: from 9 am to 12.00 pm and from 4 pm to 6 pm Saturday to Thursday.
Public administration: from 8 am to 2 pm Saturday to Thursday.
Shops: from 9 am to 8 pm Saturday to Thursday.
During the month of Ramadan, economic activity is considerable reduced and working hours change.

Public Holidays

New Year's Day	1 January
Labor Day	1 May
Independence Day	25 May
Army Day	10 June
Christmas Day	25 December
Hegirian calendar New Year's Day	end December/ beginning January (variable)
Good Friday	March (variable)
Easter Monday	March (variable)
Birth of the Prophet	March (variable)
Eid El Fitr	3 day festival at the end of Ramadan (variable)
Eid El Adha	3 day festival, 70 days after the end of Ramadan (variable)
Ascension of the Prophet	June (variable)

Holiday Compensation: If a public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the Monday is a holiday instead.

Periods When Companies Usually Close

Eid El Fitr	It usually lasts three days at the end of Ramadan. In some regions it can last up to 10 days.
Eid El Adha	3 days, 70 days after the end of Ramadan. It can last 10 days in some regions.
The month of August	It is not an official holiday period but during this time activity really slows down.

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