Morocco

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Business Environment

Business Practices

General information: Communicaid
Opening hours and days: Banks: 8:15 to 11:30 and from 14:15 to 17:30
Public bodies: from 8:30 to 16:00 continuous
Businesses: from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 15:00 to 20:00 from Monday to Saturday.
On Friday, all institutions are closed from 11:00 to 15:00.

Public holidays

Manifesto of Independence	January 11
Labour Day	May 1
National holiday	May 23
Feast of the Throne	July 30
Oued Ed-Dahab Allegiance day	August 14
The King and the People's Revolution day	August 20
Youth day	August 21
Anniversary of the Green March	November 6
Independence day	November 18
Faith Mouharram	Mouharram 1 (variable)
End of Ramadan celebration	Chawal 1(variable)
Feast of the Sacrifice	Doul hijja 10 (variable)
Prophet Mohammed's birth anniversary	Rabii el awwal 12 (variable)

Periods when companies usually close

Summer vacations

August start

Accounting Rules

Tax year: The tax year begins on January 1 and ends on December 31 of the same year.
Accounting standards: Moroccan companies are obliged to progressively adopt IFRS standards.
Accounting regulation bodies: National Council of Accounting
Accounting reports: The structure of accounts in Morocco is drawn on the French model.
Subject to provisions envisaged in articles 19,20,21, the people subject to this law must establish annual summary reports, at the end of the financial year, based on accounting and inventory records drawn in the daybook, the general ledger and the inventory book.

These summary reports include:
- the balance sheet,
- the incomes and expenses account,
- the management sales report,
- the funds flow statement,
- the additional information report.
They form an integral whole.
Publication requirements: The balance sheet describes separately the asset and liabilities items of the business.
The income and expense account summarises the incomes and expenses of the financial year without considering their date of cashing or payment.
The management balances report describes the formation of the net income and that of self-financing.
The funds flow statement highlights the financial growth of the company during the financial year by describing the resources provided and jobs provided from it.
The additional details report supplements and comments on information provided by the balance sheet, the income and expense account, the management balances report and the funds flow statement.
Professional accountancy bodies: Public Accountants Corporation
Moroccan Association of Internal Auditor Consultants
Association of Chartered Accountants
Certification and auditing: The status of the auditor has been redefined by the companies law of 1999.
Audit is obligatory for public limited companies, listed companies, banks and private limited companies with annual turnover higher than 50 million MAD. In Morocco, company audit must be done by a government auditor appointed during the annual general meeting, in the case of a public limited company. The government auditor must belong necessarily to the Public Accountants Corporation.
For some companies - listed, public, banking, credit institute companies, etc - audit must be done by two government auditors.
Accounting news: Morocco Accounting
Order of the Chartered Accountants
Babfinance

Tax Rates

Consumption taxes

Nature of the tax: Value Added Tax (VAT)
Tax rate: 20%
Reduced tax rate: There are three reduced rates of 7%, 10% and 14% according to the products and services concerned.
Basic food products, books and newspapers, certain loans and financial instruments are exempt from VAT.
Other consumption taxes: Domestic consumption taxes on alcohol, tobacco, sugar, oil products etc.

Corporate taxes

Company tax: 30%
Tax rate for foreign companies: VAT refund is possible under certain conditions
Capital gains taxation: Long term capital gains are taxed in Morocco at the rate of 30%.
Main allowable deductions and tax credit: There are many deduction possibilities. For more information go to Investments Management.
Other corporate taxes: The National Solidarity contribution is equal to 10% of the tax on profits.
The tax is proportional to the buildings location value. Its rate varies from 5 to 30%. It depends on the activity and the size of the company.

Individual taxes

Tax rate

Income is taxed at progressive rates.	From 0 to 42%
up to MAD 24,000	0%
from MAD 24,001 to 30,000	15%
from MAD 30,001 to 45,000	25%
from MAD 45,001 to 60,000	35%
from MAD 60,001 to 120,000	40%
above 120,000	42%

Allowable deductions and tax credit: There are several types of deductions assigned to taxables in Morocco. To know the nature of all the deductions, consult the tax authorities of each region.
Special expatriate tax regime: No special provisions.
However, Morocco has signed a non-double taxation agreement with the majority of the countries.

Double taxation treaties

Countries with whom a double taxation treaty have been signed: See the list of agreements signed on the Finance Ministry site.
Whithholding taxes: Dividends: 10%, Interest: 10%/20%/30%, Royalties: 10%

Sources of fiscal information

Tax Authorities: Inland Revenue
Other domestic resources: Tax Code

Intellectual Property

National organizations: L'OMPIC (Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property) handles the registration of industrial patents, drawings and models and brands in Morocco.
Regional organizations: Nil
International membership: Member of the WIPO

National regulation and international agreements

Type of property and law	Validity	International agreements signed
Patent Law no. 17/97 relating to the protection of industrial property	20 years
Trademark Law no. 17/97 relating to the protection of industrial property	10 years as from the date of registration, renewable indefinitely for identical periods.	Nice agreement
Design Law no. 17/97 relating to the protection of industrial property	5 years as from the date of registration, renewable indefinitely for two new consecutive periods of 5 years.
Copyright Law no. 2/00 relating to copyrights and performing rights	During the author's lifetime and 50 years after his death
Industrial Models Law no. 17/97 relating to the protection of industrial property	5 years as from the date of registration, renewable indefinitely for two new consecutive periods of 5 years.

Legal Framework

The language of justice: Arabic is the legal language, but French is often used in businesses as well as in governement milieus.
Recourse to an interpreter: Possible
Sources of the law and legal similarities: The main source of the law is the constitution of 1972 (revised in 1992 and 1996). The legal system is based on the Islamic law as well as on the French and Spanish civil law systems.
Checking national laws online: Public law
African law
Bassamat & associate

Standards

National standards organizations: National Service of Standardisation of Moroccan Industry
Integration in the international standards network: Member of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).
Classification of standards: For standards of national origin: NM + business sector + sub-sector + index of classification - then possibly the year
For standards depicting international standards: NM + ISO + the ISO standard number - then possibly the year
Online consultation of standards: Online Standards, the SNIMAc catalog
Certification organizations: National Service of Standardisation of Moroccan Industry

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