Income tax on salaries in Jordan, 2026

How salary income is taxed in Jordan

Salaries are taxed under Income Tax Law No. 34 of 2014 as amended by Law No. 38 of 2018. Tax is calculated per calendar year (Article 13(a)), and "employment income" covers salaries, wages, bonuses, rewards, allowances and any other cash or in-kind benefit an employee earns from a job (Article 2).

The rates apply to taxable income, what is left after exemptions (Article 2), and both it and the tax are rounded to the nearest dinar (Article 11(e)).

Some benefits are not taxable at all. Article 4(b) exempts:

• meals provided to employees at the workplace;
• accommodation provided at the workplace;
• equipment and uniforms the employer provides because the work needs them.

The employee's social security contribution is not among the amounts Article 9 lets a resident deduct, so it does not lower income tax: both come off the gross salary separately.

The income tax brackets

Article 11(a) taxes individuals in six brackets. Each rate applies only to the slice of taxable income inside its band, so crossing into a higher band never taxes the whole salary at the higher rate.

Personal and family exemptions, and the overall cap

Article 9(a) gives a resident individual two fixed exemptions each year: 9,000 JOD for the taxpayer (item 1) and 9,000 JOD for dependants, however many there are (item 2). Dependants are the spouse, children, parents and relatives up to the second degree whom the taxpayer supports (Article 2).

Everything granted under Article 9(a), including the expense exemptions in the next section, is capped at 23,000 JOD, whether spouses file jointly or separately (Article 9(b)(1) and 9(c)). A joint return needs both spouses' consent (Article 9(b)(2)).

A woman who supports the family can claim the dependants' exemption; if several breadwinners claim it, it is split by documented share of support, or equally (Article 9(e)).

Medical, education, rent and housing-loan exemptions

Article 9(a)(3) adds exemptions against medical and education costs, rent, and interest or murabaha on a housing loan: up to 1,000 JOD for the taxpayer, 1,000 JOD for the spouse and 1,000 JOD for each child, with 3,000 JOD at most for children. They count toward the same 23,000 JOD cap.

They need invoices, and Article 7 of ISTD's withholding instructions lists what qualifies:

• treatment, surgery or hospital stays for the taxpayer, spouse or dependants, in Jordan or abroad;
• education from kindergarten upwards, in Jordan or abroad;
• rent on the family home in Jordan, with a lease certified by Greater Amman or the local municipality;
• interest or murabaha on a loan to build or buy a home in Jordan.

Invoices must show a serial number and date, the provider's details and stamp, and the beneficiary's name.

Monthly withholding uses only the personal and dependants' exemptions (instructions, Article 3), so expense exemptions are claimed on the annual return, where tax already withheld counts toward the final bill (Article 12(c) of the law).

Separately, Article 4(a)(20) exempts 2,000 JOD for each person with a continuous or permanent disability. ISTD says this comes on top of the other exemptions.

Worked examples

Four insured residents from the salary calculator, in JOD; net pay is after income tax and the employee's social security.

At 600 JOD the personal exemption covers the whole year's pay, so no tax is due. At 5,000 JOD most taxable income sits in the fifth band, and social security stops at the insured-wage ceiling (see the social security guide).

Residents and non-residents

A resident is someone in Jordan for at least 183 days of the tax year, in one stretch or several, or a Jordanian working for the government or a public body at home or abroad (Article 2).

The Article 9 exemptions are written for the resident taxpayer, so a non-resident gets no personal exemption. The one exception: a non-resident Jordanian may claim the dependants' exemption for dependants living in Jordan whom he supports (Article 9(d)).

Income earned in Jordan is taxable wherever it is paid (Article 3(a)), and Article 13 of the withholding instructions requires 10% to be withheld from taxable income paid to a non-resident. Confirm with ISTD how that applies to a given employee before the first payroll.

The national contribution on high incomes

Since 2019, Article 11(f) has levied a national contribution of 1% on an individual's annual taxable income above 200,000 JOD, paid into an ISTD account used to pay down public debt.

It follows the income tax rules on audit, collection, appeals and late payment (Article 11(f)(2)), and stops once public debt falls to the level the public debt law allows (Article 11(g)). On payroll, the employer withholds 1% of each dinar of monthly salary above 16,666 JOD (Article 3(a)(2) of the withholding instructions).

Monthly withholding and the employer's duties

The employer withholds tax from employment income (Article 12(a)(4)) under ISTD's income tax withholding instructions (Executive Instructions No. 2 of 2019, as amended). Each month it withholds on the salary above one twelfth of the personal and dependants' exemptions, in monthly bands that mirror the annual ones; a bonus or other non-monthly pay counts in the month it is paid (Article 3(a)(1)).

What the employer has to do:

1. At hiring, collect the employee's family-status certificate on the ISTD form and send ISTD a copy within 30 days (instructions, Article 5).
2. Keep a register of each employee's pay, family status, exemptions and tax withheld (Article 6).
3. Pay the tax withheld to ISTD within 30 days of paying the salary, on the approved form (Article 12(e) of the law; Article 3(c) of the instructions).
4. During the month after each month, send ISTD a statement of employees' names, salaries and tax withheld (Article 6).
5. Within the first three months of each year, send the annual statement of salaries and tax remitted for the year before (Article 6).
6. On request, give the employee a certificate of total pay and tax withheld at year-end or when service ends (Article 6).

Penalties

• Paying late costs four per thousand (0.4%) of the amount due for each week or part of a week, capped at the tax itself (Article 36(a) and (c); ISTD's English translation reads "0.04 percent", but the Arabic text prevails).
• If the employer does not withhold, the tax is collected from the employer as if it were his own, from the date it was due (Article 12(e)).
• Failing to withhold and remit adds 200 to 500 JOD, doubled for a repeat (Article 64).
• Withholding tax and not paying it in within 30 days is treated as tax evasion: a penalty equal to the tax, and prison for repeat offences (Article 66; Article 15(b) of the instructions).

The employee's annual return

Withholding is a payment on account, not the final bill (Article 12(c)). Anyone with taxable income files a return by the end of April for the year before (Article 17(a)), and ISTD has said withholding does not excuse employees whose income exceeds their exemptions: above 9,000 JOD a year for a single person, or above the personal and dependants' exemptions together for someone supporting a family.

End-of-service pay has its own rules: exempt for service before 2010, half exempt for 2010 to 2014, and from 2015 the first 15,000 JOD is exempt and 9% is withheld on the rest (Article 4(a)(13); instructions, Article 4). See the end-of-service guide.

Payroll software such as Link HR applies the exemptions and monthly bands on every payslip, so what is withheld matches the law.