Morocco Reassures Expats: Tax Information Exchange Won’t Compromise Rights

The government wants to avoid compromising the rights of MREs through the automatic exchange of financial and tax information. "Moroccans living abroad have nothing to fear, because nothing can undermine their rights," the government spokesman assured on Thursday at the press conference held after the Council of Government. In other words, the kingdom will not be able to take any measure or action likely to undermine the rights of this community, which enjoys special attention from King Mohammed VI.

On Tuesday, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Islamic Affairs and Moroccans Living Abroad postponed sine die the approval of two draft laws on the exchange of tax information and data of MREs. The first is draft law No. 77.19 approving the multilateral agreement between competent authorities on the automatic exchange of information relating to financial accounts.

The ratification of this agreement by Morocco with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was effective on June 25, 2019 under the head of government Saâdeddine El Othmani. The latter had signed a decree-law enacting transitional provisions relating to the automatic exchange of information for tax purposes. The second is draft law No. 76.19 approving the multilateral agreement between competent authorities on the exchange of country-by-country statements.