
Morocco Revises Tax Policy: Landlords to Pay Income Tax Only on Collected Rent
Landlords’ Income Tax (IR) on rental income will now only be paid on rents received. This is one of the new measures just adopted by the tax authorities.

Landlords’ Income Tax (IR) on rental income will now only be paid on rents received. This is one of the new measures just adopted by the tax authorities.

The House of Representatives has approved new measures that will govern taxation for the year 2020, pending the results of the international Road show which plans to raise one billion dirhams on the financial markets.

Professional athletes will see the flat-rate deduction on their employment income increase from 40 to 50%. This provision, contained in the 2020 Finance Bill (PLF), was defended by the Minister of Finance during a meeting with the press on November 5th. Mohamed Benchaâboun justified this tax benefit by the fact that "the careers of athletes are extremely short".

A convention to acquire a new integrated and secure marking system has been signed between the Customs and Indirect Taxes Administration (ADII) and the company SICPA SA. This agreement was validated for the control of certain goods subject to Domestic Consumption Taxes (TIC), a press release from the ADII said on Thursday.

In order to encourage investment and improve competitiveness within companies, the Moroccan Government has just adopted a new legal regime, aimed at reducing the Corporate Tax rate in stages.

The 2020 Finance Bill addresses the Corporate Income Tax (CIT) at great length. Its concern is to comply with the requirements of the European Union (EU) by starting to apply a rate of 28% to industrial companies operating on the local market and a differentiated rate on export operations. The condition is that their net profit does not exceed 100 million dirhams. These tax measures aim to remove Morocco from the tax havens.

In the coming months, a reduction in the marginal Corporate Income Tax (CIT) rate, from 31% to 28%, for industrial companies on their domestic turnover, could be applied. This is suggested by the 2020 Finance Bill (PLF).

Starting in 2020, athletes will be included in the category of people who pay Income Tax, according to the Finance Bill. And it will be the clubs, leagues and federations that will be required to contribute to its collection.

A new liberating contribution will be applied from 2020. This contribution concerns individuals who have their tax domicile in Morocco and hold liquid assets in a bank in the country, which are derived from a professional, agricultural or undeclared profit activity before January 1, 2020.

In Casablanca , some municipal taxes will see an increase in the coming days. These are mainly the tax on drinking establishments, the tax on undeveloped urban land and the tax on public passenger transport.

For the 2020 Finance Bill project, changes are announced on VAT on imports, the Domestic Consumption Tax (TIC) and on import duties. Thus, revisions to these levels of taxation by the State are envisaged next year.

Upon returning to Europe, some Moroccans residing abroad (MREs) were subjected by the Spanish authorities to a 31% tax on the value of their vehicle before crossing the Port of Algeciras.