فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
Tax revenues in Morocco have significantly increased from 199 billion dirhams (MMDH) in 2020 to 299 MMDH in 2024, thanks to the implementation of tax reforms, as announced by the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy and Finance, responsible for the Budget, Fouzi Lekjaa, on Monday in Rabat.
In response to questions regarding the “assessment of the implementation of tax reform” at the House of Representatives, Lekjaa specified that the increase of 100 MMDH recorded during this period has been entirely allocated to financing social programs. He indicated that these resources have funded social dialogue at 44 MMDH, direct aid at 35 MMDH, and 19.5 MMDH for medical coverage contributions.
The minister highlighted that the average annual growth rate of revenues reached 11%, noting that corporate tax revenues rose from 48.8 MMDH to 70 MMDH by 2024, while Value Added Tax (VAT) revenues increased from 56 MMDH to over 89 MMDH, representing a rise of more than 59%.
Regarding income tax (IR), revenues saw a notable increase from 40 MMDH to 59.6 MMDH, a growth of 49%, attributed to “broadening the tax base, particularly for non-salary income, especially those from independent economic activities,” according to the minister.
In this context, Lekjaa reminded that in 2025, measures will be introduced to ease the tax burden, including the exemption of salaries not exceeding 6,000 dirhams per month. Meanwhile, middle-class individuals earning less than 15,000 dirhams monthly will benefit from over 70% of the financial efforts allocated to this reform, amounting to 8.5 MMDH.
He also noted that issues related to income tax for retirees have been resolved, with 164,744 beneficiaries of the exemption, representing 86% of public sector retirees. Furthermore, the government is working on simplifying the tax system and adapting it to economic specifics, particularly through the establishment of a Unique Professional Contribution to facilitate tax procedures for medium-sized professionals.
Measures have also been introduced to combat tax evasion, such as generalizing withholding at source and strengthening tax control mechanisms, which allowed for the collection of 17.77 MMDH in 2024 compared to 14.06 MMDH in 2023, marking an increase of 26.4%. Regarding the assessment of voluntary tax regularization operations that reached 127 MMDH, Lekjaa clarified that 77 MMDH were collected via bank declarations, 48 MMDH through direct declarations to the General Directorate of Taxes (DGI), and 2 MMDH concerning assets held abroad.
He affirmed that “citizens who declared their income and placed their funds in their bank accounts are free to use them for direct investments or real estate purchases,” reiterating “the commitment of the tax administration to ensure total confidentiality and not to conduct any subsequent tax review to encourage taxpayers to declare their income voluntarily.”
The minister also emphasized that applying a rate of 5% under the finance law will generate additional resources of approximately 6 MMDH for the state, “thus contributing to strengthening trust between taxpayers and the tax administration.”
In conclusion, he stated that this approach “aims to contribute to structuring the national economy, enhancing its development capacity in light of increasing investments and reducing the budget deficit to 4% by 2024, with a downward trajectory towards 3% by 2026 while stabilizing public debt at 69.5% of GDP.”
