Casablanca: a new tax that is causing a stir

The hunt for revenue is open in the economic capital. To finance its ambitions and infrastructure, the city hall has decided to activate a powerful lever offered by the new law 14.25: the upward revision of the tax on idle land. Goodbye to the old administrative "zoning" system deemed obsolete; from now on, it is the actual level of equipment in the neighborhood that dictates the bill. And since almost all of Casablanca has roads, electricity and public services, the city plans to classify the majority of its territory in the "high-end" category, allowing the maximum rate to be applied.

Concretely, the bill promises to be hefty. The Council is considering setting the tax at 30 dirhams per square meter, which is the upper limit allowed by the legislator. To give an idea of the magnitude of the increase, land intended for villas, previously taxed at 12 dirhams, would see their taxation more than double. This aggressive strategy would allow the municipality to increase its tax revenue by about 30%. The stated objective is twofold: to swell the municipal budget for 2026, but also to force the hand of speculators by making the retention of vacant land financially unbearable.

On the side of real estate developers, the pill is hard to swallow. Professionals in the sector perceive this measure as an unsustainable pressure on their land stock. They fear being trapped, forced to launch construction sites hastily to escape the tax, even in a context where buyer demand is not there.