Morocco’s Self-Entrepreneur Boom Raises Tax Evasion Concerns

The number of self-entrepreneurs has increased significantly this year, which raises questions about this profile that seems to evolve in the informal sector. "The experience must be reviewed to, perhaps, review the set of trades that fall under the self-entrepreneur status," suggested Réda Lahmini, vice-president of the Innovation and Development Commission of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM).

The idea, according to the official quoted by Les Inspirations Éco, is "to be able to rearrange the rates and ceilings applied to them with a view to broadening the tax base. Otherwise, it will always be the same ones who will pay taxes and be audited." Today, only 2% of economic operators pay corporate tax (IS), he specifies.

The president of the CGEM Social Commission, Hicham Zouanat, notes for his part an abusive use of this status to circumvent the tax authorities, making the difference between self-entrepreneurs "single-client who, in a way, are disguised employees to escape the tax cost, the social cost and the risk of social disputes," and "real self-entrepreneurs" who are in a form of "disguised informality too when we see the average of 8,800 dirhams of declared turnover".

"We will strive, in the coming years, to see more clearly and to assess the impact of this status on pension funds. The State will study the impact on employment and taxation," warns Zouanat, who believes that this status should evolve considerably and not disappear. Since the introduction of this status in 2015, there are between 250,000 and 300,000 self-entrepreneurs in Morocco. But the sector suffers from a lack of visibility in terms of jobs created, tax revenues for the State and contributions to pension funds.