Casablanca – New measures have been introduced by the Moroccan government to bolster tax revenues and combat tax evasion and avoidance. These measures, enacted under the current finance law, took effect on July 1. They include new provisions such as VAT withholding (RAS) and restrictions on property transfers and registrations to obtain a tax clearance certificate (Quitus fiscal), ensuring the settlement of local taxes like housing, cleanliness, communal services fees, and taxes on undeveloped land.

The finance law aims to increase ordinary revenues to $32.1 billion by year-end, reflecting a 5.63% rise from the previous year. This involves boosting expected revenues from indirect taxes by 6.38% to $13.3 billion and from direct taxes and associated fees by 3.4% to $12.1 billion. Tax collection targets include mobilizing $3.9 billion from domestic VAT, an 11.73% increase compared to the previous fiscal law’s projections.

The implementation of these tax revenue targets poses a challenge for the government and tax administration, requiring enhanced monitoring and collection efforts based on achievements from the previous year. Field audits yielded $0.6 billion, while paper audits brought in $0.56 billion, alongside automatic tax reductions totaling $3.88 billion to incentivize tax compliance.

Under the new provisions, notaries, lawyers authorized to plead before the Court of Cassation, and other professionals involved in property transfers are required to obtain a tax clearance certificate before drafting contracts. This certificate verifies the payment of all property-related taxes and fees for the current and previous years. Failure to comply makes these professionals jointly liable with taxpayers for these obligations.

The digitization of contract registration processes is expected to streamline tax collection procedures, allowing immediate withholding of due taxes before property sales are finalized through electronic data exchanges with partner administrations.

The reforms also include VAT withholding reforms, scheduled to span three years, beginning with self-assessment (Autoliquidation) of VAT on invoices issued from July 1 onwards. The General Tax Directorate has prepared for these changes by digitizing procedures for obtaining necessary tax clearance certificates and raising awareness among accounting professionals and economic actors about these regulatory updates.

These measures aim to strengthen tax compliance through various initiatives, promoting fair tax management and delivering efficient, transparent services via digitization and artificial intelligence in data processing and analysis.