Morocco Cracks Down on Unlicensed Airbnb Rentals Amid Foreign Exchange Audit

This operation aims to ensure compliance with the legislation in force, which requires professionals in the rental sector to obtain the required licenses from the local authorities before carrying out their activities. Moreover, the activity of renting through Airbnb, which generates significant revenue, is also regulated.

Sources have told Hespress that this audit has revealed the transfer of significant sums of money, sometimes exceeding 100,000 dirhams per month for the rental of apartments and houses in Casablanca, Marrakech, Essaouira and Tangier. Funds that are not declared, generating huge losses for the Moroccan state.

The Foreign Exchange Office controllers also discovered that "the value of financial transfers made via the Airbnb platform has not been integrated by the Ministry of Tourism into the regularly declared sector revenues." They also revealed that these transfers are generally made through bank accounts, PayPal, bank cards or through money transfer institutions.

"Some housing operators in Morocco, although of Moroccan nationality, carry out financial transactions abroad, particularly in France and Spain," the controllers also indicate. The audit report has already been transmitted to the Ministry of the Interior, more specifically to the General Inspectorate of Territorial Administration, for the necessary actions.