Moroccan Café and Restaurant Owners Seek Tax Relief Amid Economic Struggles

The association explains in its letter that tens of thousands of professionals in the sector are experiencing a "catastrophic situation". They are subject to a tax regime that they cannot honor, writes the ANPCRM. Before the letter was sent to the ministry, the ANPCRM national committee held a meeting during which the frustrations and grievances of the professionals were expressed.

The press release from this meeting mentions a "tax injustice" and "the absence of any significant assistance". The ANPCRM denounces the obligation imposed on them to pay in full the fee for temporary occupation of the municipal public domain, the advertising sign tax, the professional tax, not to mention the tax on the sale of beverages. Professionals find this unfair, in the sense that they are asked to occupy 50% of their capacity, due to the fight against the spread of the coronavirus.

The ANPCRM reminds the minister that a "large number of stores have closed their doors and others are threatened with bankruptcy" and that an exemption could help them hold on. "We have alerted all the ministries and institutions concerned by the sector about the impossibility of fulfilling the requirements of the tax systems, which will negatively affect the social situation of hundreds of thousands of workers in the sector," concludes the press release.