Morocco Expands Duty-Free Allowances for Expatriates’ Family Gifts

The Total Franchise is a tolerance granted by the Customs and Indirect Taxes Administration (ADII) on imported products or gifts that are not commercial in nature. The ADII writes: "Moroccan Residents Abroad engaged in a lucrative activity (employee, merchant, liberal profession, seasonal worker, etc.) can benefit from the total franchise of duties and taxes for family gifts imported in limited quantities and without a commercial character, by their nature, their number or their quantity."

Moroccan customs gives the cases falling under this franchise:

• The value of family gifts must be less than 20,000 Dhs per calendar year;
• This value must not be affected by a single item or type of item (for example, MREs cannot import the equivalent of 20,000 Dhs only in ties or footwear).
Excluded from the benefit of this franchise are:
• mopeds and bicycles (except children’s bicycles),
• furniture (bedrooms, showcases, dining rooms, etc.),
• carpets (the franchise is only authorized for one carpet),
• new or used household appliances (refrigerators, stoves, washing machines, etc.),
• television sets and other similar devices.

For the MRE to benefit from this franchise, customs nevertheless sets out some rules:

"The aforementioned franchises and tolerances are granted only once per calendar year. They cover personal effects and objects transported by the MREs themselves upon their entry into Morocco as well as family gifts that are not commercial in nature; by their nature, their number or their quantity."

To benefit from it, the MRE must provide:

• Residence permit or any other document justifying habitual residence abroad;
• Work card, employment contract, merchant card, residence visa of more than six (06) months
• Any other document justifying the socio-professional situation abroad of the person concerned.