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Morocco Debates Alcohol Tax Hike: Revenue Boost or Smuggling Risk?
Friday 6 November 2020, by
The increase in taxes on alcoholic beverages, planned in the 2021 Finance Bill, is fueling the debate between parliamentarians. In the House of Representatives, opinions differ between the majority, which supports the project, and the opposition which sees it as an incentive for smuggling.
For the government, the new increase will have a twofold positive impact. On the one hand, it will help replenish the state’s coffers, and on the other, it will encourage Moroccans to reduce their alcohol consumption.
Far from being convinced by the arguments of the majority, the opposition has pointed out that the experience would not have proven itself in other countries. Last year, a USFP advisor had suggested that alcoholic beverages would be "particularly popular" with Moroccans.
The opposition is particularly concerned about the boomerang effect of the new measure. For a CDT Councilor, it is more likely to jeopardize a "windfall that brings the state much more than the revenue generated by the fishing agreements signed with the European Union".
FGD deputy Omar Balafrej, known for his social activism on issues of inequality, education and health, denounced the stubbornness of the PJD government, which is betting on alcohol revenues to replenish the state budget.