Morocco Poised to Exit EU’s Tax Haven Gray List as Financial Reforms Advance

The draft decree-law No. 2.20.665 relating to the reorganization of the Casablanca financial hub, "Casablanca Finance City" (CFC), has been developed in accordance with the will of the Kingdom of Morocco. This project, presented by the Minister of Economy, Finance and Administration Reform, aims to strengthen the transparency and nature of the activities carried out within "Casablanca Finance City" and to improve its attractiveness.

The approval of this decree-law by the Council of Government, which met on Thursday, September 24 in Rabat, constitutes an exit ticket for the Kingdom from the EU’s gray list of tax havens established since 2017. Attention is now turned to October 6, 2020, where the project will have to be adopted at the meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin).

This council had recognized the compliance of the export tax regimes and industrial acceleration zones with good governance standards at its meeting on February 18 in Brussels. However, the process of assessing the tax regime of "Casablanca Finance City" has remained pending with the OECD and not the EU. This situation did not allow the ministers to confirm the compliance of this regime with the new standards.

It should be recalled that in June 2019, Morocco signed the multilateral convention for the implementation of measures relating to tax treaties, in order to prevent the erosion of its tax bases and the transfer of profits. Thus, Morocco becomes the 89th jurisdiction to adhere to the convention, which currently covers nearly 1,530 tax treaties.

The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) will then meet on October 6, 2020, for the approval of the revised EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, notes ecoactu.ma.