A Royal Decree was issued on Sunday approving the controversial income tax bill that entails increasing taxes on the industrial sector, according to the Gazette, the official website of Jordanian Royal Court.

The new law, which will go into effect in 2019, entails increasing the income tax on the industrial sector to 20 per cent.

The parliament endorsed the bill last week, which is part of the fiscal reforms the country is working on to offset its budget deficit.

The income tax bill exempts households earning less than 20,000 Jordanian dinars (28,189 U.S. dollars) per year in 2019. In 2020, the exemption level will be lowered to 18,000 dinars.

For individuals, the Lower House decided to exempt those with annual income of less than 10,000 dinars in 2019 and less than 9,000 dinars in 2020.

The bill, which is part of the reforms under a program with the International Monetary Fund, has been under national debate for a long time.

The government is expected to generate around 200-million-dinar in additional revenues in 2019 after the bill goes into effect.

The popular backlash against the previous drafts of the bill led to the resignation of former Prime Minister Hani Mulki in late May.