Morocco Extends Real Estate Tax Breaks to Boost Housing Market

The first amendment concerns the extension, until June 30, 2021, of the reduction in registration fees for the benefit of home buyers and the increase in the taxable base amount to 4 million dirhams (MDH) instead of 2.5 MDH. The second is related to the extension of the benefit of the exemption to Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).

According to Karim Tazi, Deputy General Manager of the Consulting and Transaction Division at the A. Lazrak group and member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), "these are very positive measures. The first had a favorable impact on buyers and boosted sales in recent months. It brought a kind of break to people’s wait-and-see attitude, especially since the savings on registration fees are significant," reports the MAP.

On the side of real estate developers, they are rubbing their hands for these two new measures. Karim Amor, Vice-President of the National Federation of Real Estate Developers (FNPI), in charge of the International Relations Commission, believes that these two measures could help revive the sector. "The measure relating to registration fees has allowed an increase in transactions in recent months," he said.

However, the FNPI vice-president regrets that the PLF does not yet provide solutions for social housing and middle-class housing. "We understood that the Ministry of Finance wanted solutions that no longer provide tax exemptions to real estate developers. So we have proposed alternative solutions," he said, citing the proposal for direct state aid to buyers-beneficiaries of social housing.