Tax Evasion Crackdown: 153 Companies Under Scrutiny for Suspicious Losses

To thoroughly audit the overall tax situation of the managers and shareholders of these companies, and to investigate their movable and immovable property, both inside and outside Morocco, in order to verify the credibility of their tax returns. This is the mission assigned to several teams mobilized by the central control services of the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI). To carry out their mission, the control teams rely on precise data provided by the risk analysis and programming service, under the department of investigations, data analysis and programming. These are suspicious declarations of financial losses over several consecutive years, without valid economic justification in the eyes of the control services.

The analysis of the accounting and tax returns of units that have reported profits so low that the tax paid did not exceed the mandatory minimum contribution will mark the starting point of the verifications. Afterwards, the control teams thoroughly examined the assets and lifestyles of the managers and shareholders concerned, given the inconsistencies noted between the negative performance of their companies and their prosperous personal situation. Most of them have single-member limited liability companies (SARL AU). The control teams discovered that "a manager of a textile and clothing company in Casablanca has declared continuous deficits over four consecutive years, while he has acquired during this period a villa worth at least 5 million dirhams, a farm worth more than 10.3 million dirhams, as well as new cars for his wife and children," according to sources at Hespress.

Another case detected: a manager and shareholder of a cosmetics import and distribution company in Tangier was spotted for having acquired a luxury second residence in Spain and an agricultural estate near Asilah. After confronting these individuals with the irregularities found, the control services were able to reach an amicable agreement with them, which provides for the regularization of their tax situation and the payment of the amounts due - estimated at very high levels - according to an agreed schedule.

To recall, Article 232 of the General Tax Code stipulates that all tax obligations, including fines and increases related to the failure to file a return, are due for all unreported years, even if the statute of limitations has expired - provided that this period does not exceed ten years. In the event of discovered accounting manipulations, the administration can thus revise the tax documents up to ten years back, particularly if the taxpayer has not declared his income or is not fiscally identified.