Morocco Eases Bank Ban Penalties: New Bill Caps Fines, Reduces Tax Rates

The amendment to Article 314 of the Commercial Code, endorsed by the Finance and Economic Development Committee in the [Parliament], sets the ceiling for the fine at 10,000 dirhams for individuals and 50,000 dirhams for companies.

This new provision aims to limit the scale of the tax penalty, regardless of the number of banking incidents. The tax penalty is thus set at a rate of 1.5%, whereas it was 5% for the first injunction, 10% for the second and 15% for the third.

In total, 670,000 bank bans in Morocco, of which 88% are individuals, have issued 95 billion dirhams in bounced checks. The [Moroccan Government] is counting on this new measure to increase public revenues.