Cabinet decision to lower real estate sales tax ‘a positive step forward’ — JHDA

AMMAN — A Cabinet decision to reduce real estate sales tax by 1 per cent and real estate sales fee by 2 per cent will positively impact the Kingdom’s real estate sector, according to Jordan Housing Developers Association (JHDA) President Kamal Awamleh.

“Decreasing estate sales tax and fees is a positive step forward, but we hope that the rate of reduction will increase by 1.5 to 2 per cent,” Awamleh told The Jordan Times on Tuesday.

The Cabinet’s decision, which reduced both real estate sales tax and sales fees to 6 per cent instead of 9 per cent, aims to stimulate the real estate market, he said.

The JHDA president said that “the Cabinet’s decision should be placed before Parliament for further review”.

He added that since the beginning of the year, many of problems have been solved with respect to the housing sector in the Kingdom’s governorates. Many of these solutions followed the publishing of the city, village and buildings’ planning code in the Official Gazette in December.

In 2019, over 33,000 apartments were sold in Jordan, compared with 29,000 in 2020, according to Awamleh. 

He noted that last year over 40,000 apartments were sold in the Kingdom.