Any taxpayer is entitled to appear before the Income and Sales Tax Department in person, or to appoint another person as their representative under a written proxy to represent them in auditing, assessing, and collecting the tax on their sales, including filing tax returns and notification procedures, in accordance with the Representation, Agency and Delegation Instructions issued for this purpose.
Who May Act as a Taxpayer's Representative?
As a general rule, the representative must be a Jordanian national, hold a first university degree in fields such as accounting, law, economics, or financial and banking sciences, and have held that degree for no less than (5) years, be registered with the Department, and have no effective decision barring them from dealing with the Department or rejecting their accounts. Certain categories are exempt from some, not all, of these conditions: ascendants, descendants up to the second degree, and spouses of one another are exempt from the nationality, university-degree, and Department-registration requirements, while a practicing lawyer, a licensed chartered accountant practicing audit work, and a custodian, liquidator, bankruptcy trustee, or an agent under a general power of attorney are exempt only from the nationality and university-degree requirements. All of them remain subject to the condition of having no effective decision barring them from dealing with the Department or rejecting their accounts.
Required Information in the Proxy Document
The proxy must be in writing, on the form adopted by the Department, and must include the name of the principal and the name of the representative, the national number or passport number and the tax number of each of them, and the tax period or periods covered by the proxy.
The Practice Certificate and Its Fee
The Internal Audit Directorate issues a registration certificate to practice representation, agency, and delegation work before the Department, for the first time against a fee of (20) dinars payable to the public treasury. This fee is specifically waived for ascendants, descendants up to the second degree, spouses and those in their position, as well as a custodian, liquidator, bankruptcy trustee, general power-of-attorney agent, or a legal entity's administrative representative — but not for a practicing lawyer or a licensed chartered accountant, who remain liable for this fee despite being exempt from the nationality and university-degree requirements. This certificate is subject to periodic review by the Internal Audit Directorate, on pain of its cancellation and withdrawal if the set conditions are violated. This requirement ensures that whoever represents taxpayers before the Department on a professional, recurring basis is a qualified, formally registered person, distinguishing this from occasional representation among relatives or persons with an exempt legal capacity.
Terminating the Proxy
The proxy may only be terminated by a written request submitted by the principal, signed before the competent employee at the Department, or with a signature certified by a bank, and the termination of the proxy takes effect on the day following the date it is stamped by the Department.
Legal References
- Representation, Agency and Delegation Instructions Before the Income and Sales Tax Department No. 13 of 2015 — Article 3
- Representation, Agency and Delegation Instructions Before the Income and Sales Tax Department No. 13 of 2015 — Article 4
- Representation, Agency and Delegation Instructions Before the Income and Sales Tax Department No. 13 of 2015 — Article 6
- Representation, Agency and Delegation Instructions Before the Income and Sales Tax Department No. 13 of 2015 — Article 7
- Representation, Agency and Delegation Instructions Before the Income and Sales Tax Department No. 13 of 2015 — Article 11
For questions about your specific situation, you can ask the Jordan Tax & Legislation Helper on Helpers, or consult a licensed chartered accountant.