Gambling: a heated debate in Morocco

How to impose a tax on activities considered illegal? The question sparked a heated debate during the detailed examination of the 2025 finance bill in the Finance and Economic Development Committee. Abdellah Bouanou, president of the parliamentary group of the Party of Justice and Development (PJD), stated in this regard that the entry into force of a tax on gambling could lead minors to gamble and to the legalization of money laundering.

The concern is real, even if the government, through the Ministry of Economy and Finance, has the means to control the identity and age of people who engage in these practices, he stressed. For his part, Rachid Hamouni, president of the group of the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS), pointed out that the imposition of a tax on gambling falls within the prerogatives of public finances and not of religious precepts. An opinion that Bouanou does not share.

To calm the ardor, Fouzi Lekjaa, the delegate minister in charge of the budget, recalled that the tax on gambling already exists and has allowed the state to generate nearly 2.57 billion dirhams in revenue. The government’s objective in including this tax in the 2025 finance bill is to increase revenue transparency and ensure tax collection at source, the official explained.