Tax Crackdown Targets Morocco’s Hidden Wealth

According to sources close to the case contacted by Hespress, new notifications have been sent to these people without a unique tax identification number (ICE), but whose bank accounts show significant financial movements. Their names also appear in high-value real estate and vehicle sales or purchase transactions. The Moroccan tax authorities now intend to regularize the situation of the persons concerned.

The inspectors rely on the General Tax Code to examine the overall tax situation of these individuals. They seek to identify income and resources that have never been declared, and ask the persons concerned to justify all their transactions. According to the same sources, the targeted sectors are mainly the used car trade, real estate sales and rentals, content creation on social networks and the sale of cosmetic products. These taxpayers did not take advantage of the voluntary regularization campaign that ended at the end of last December.

Concretely, these people must explain where the undeclared income comes from, justify the financial flows on their accounts and those of their relatives of whom they are the beneficial owners, and detail their recent expenses and purchases. In some cases, the detected expenses would exceed 3 million dirhams in a single year. For those who do not have an ICE number, the inspectors apply Article 216 of the General Tax Code and automatically assign them a tax identity. The place of taxation corresponds to the address on their biometric national identity card or residence card.

The investigations carried out have revealed undeclared purchases of apartments, villas, land, luxury cars, yachts, but also transfers to joint accounts and bank card operations abroad. Inspectors can check operations on personal or professional accounts. The persons concerned have thirty days to produce the documents and evidence to clarify the points raised by the administration. The objective is to prevent any fraud or concealment of income.