⁍ Boost to revenues will help improve public finances and support the economy after the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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⁍ Economists say rampant tax evasion has deprived the Jordanian government of billions of dollars over decades.

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⁍ The campaign to catch tax cheats began in earnest early this year.

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– “We are cutting tax evasion and going ruthlessly, with no red lines, against anybody who evades.” Those are the words of Jordan’s finance minister, who says the country has identified at least $600 million in taxes owed by companies under an ambitious drive to curb tax evasion. The boost to revenues will help improve public finances and support the economy after the shock of the coronavirus pandemic. Economists say rampant tax evasion has deprived the Jordanian government of billions of dollars over decades. “We are cutting tax evasion and going ruthlessly, with no red lines, against anybody who evades,” Mohamad Al Ississ tells Reuters. The campaign to catch tax cheats, which began in earnest early this year, addresses longstanding public concerns and is part of a four-year $1.3 billion program of structural reforms undertaken under International Monetary Fund supervision. Al Ississ said the tax proceeds would help offset a 17% year-on-year decline in revenues in the first half of the year, when the coronavirus pandemic halted much economic activity—especially tourism, a main source of foreign currency. Jordan’s economy is set to shrink by around 5% this year, compared with an IMF estimate of around 2% growth prior to the health crisis, he said, but will rebound in 2021.