Oxfam shines spotlight on UAE tax evasion by Jordan’s wealthiest at Davos summit

A recent report by Oxfam highlighting global inequality brings attention to tax evasion by Jordan’s richest individuals in the UAE, coinciding with CEOs and politicians gearing up to network at the prestigious World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Oxfam’s report, unveiled on Monday at the start of the forum, emphasized the importance of taxing the world’s wealthiest individuals to address global economic inequality. The organization also called on governments to take decisive action to curb tax evasion.

According to a report titled ‘Survival of the Richest’, a recent leak of property records from the tax haven of Dubai revealed that 5,555 affluent Jordanians possess over 13,000 properties in the region, totaling a value exceeding $5 billion.

“This is more than four times the Jordanian government’s annual education budget.”

Discontent has simmered among Jordanians over economic hardship, austerity measures, and high youth unemployment, as well as a lack of progress on promised political reforms.

Opposition politicians say King Abdullah II has not done enough to tackle corruption in state agencies, where nepotism and poor governance has shaken popular confidence in the ruling elite.

While resentment over stalled reforms and high living costs rose, a major journalistic investigation in 2021 found that the Jordanian monarch had created a network of offshore companies to build a $100 million overseas property empire. Jordan’s royal court denied any wrongdoing.

A study by BBC News Arabic last year found that more than half of Jordanians were considering leaving the country, with economic worries a driving factor.

Protests over high fuel prices that took place at the end of last year were met with a crackdown by security forces.

The Oxfam report also said that three of the most common havens for superyachts were located in the Gulf region – Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

All three countries are or have previously been notorious for allowing the world’s most wealthy to avoid taxes.

The Oxfam report said that since 2020, the richest 1 percent have obtained almost two-thirds of all new wealth – nearly twice as much money as the bottom 99 percent of the world’s population.

It said that a tax of up to 5 percent on the world’s multi-millionaires and billionaires could raise $1.7 trillion a year, enough to lift 2 billion people out of poverty.