The 2023 edition of the General Tax Code published

General Tax Code 2023

The Directorate General of Taxes (DGI) publishes the 2023 General Tax Code. This new edition, available in Arabic and French, is an updated version of the 2022 edition, by introducing the modifications provided for by the 2023 Finance Law.

“The progressive opening of the national economy following the commitments made by Morocco vis-à-vis international bodies and the free trade agreements signed in particular with the European Union, the United States of America, the Egypt, Jordan and Turkey requires providing investors with a clear, comprehensive and easily accessible work and information tool in the tax field,” reads the preamble to the publication. And to recall that “the national meeting on taxation held on November 26 and 27, 1999 made it possible to pave the way for the codification work carried out in several stages, including the gradual upgrading of tax texts through measures of harmonization, simplification and adaptation to changes in the general environment of the economy”. The 2023 General Tax Code is thus made up of three books.

The first brings together the rules of assessment, recovery and sanctions in terms of corporation tax, income tax, value added tax and registration fees. The second book relates to tax procedures. It thus brings together the rules of control and litigation of the aforementioned taxes. The third component includes other duties and taxes. These include stamp duties, the special annual tax on vehicles, the social solidarity contribution on profits and income, the social solidarity contribution on self-delivery, the tax on contracts of insurance and air tax for solidarity and tourism promotion. It should be noted that the drafting of the General Tax Code in 2007 is part of the extension of the reforms carried out by the public authorities following the High Royal Instructions. It thus intervenes in the perspective of improving the legal, fiscal and economic environment of investment by modernizing the legislative, judicial and financial systems.

Overview of the main VAT measures
Among the measures related to VAT taken within the framework of the 2023 Finance Law, mention is made of the exemption from VAT without the right to deduct for natural persons exercising regulated professions and whose annual turnover is less than or equal to 500,000 dirhams. “As part of the consecration of tax fairness and in order to allow regulated professions to benefit from the VAT exemption threshold set at 500,000 DH, in the same way as service providers who are natural persons, the Finance Law for the 2023 budget year modified articles 89-I-12° and 91-II-3° of the CGI excluding the exemption of these people”, we learn in this sense. And to continue that “in order to allow persons newly exempted following this new measure, to pay the tax due for services fully performed before January 1, 2023, the 2023 Finance Law amended the provisions of Article 125-III of the CGI by providing for a transitional measure for operations carried out and invoiced before this date”. In order to enshrine the principle of VAT neutrality, the 2023 Finance Law introduced a measure to harmonize the VAT tax regime applicable to certain regulated liberal professions. To this end, the operations carried out, within the framework of their profession, by lawyers, interpreters, notaries, adel, bailiffs and veterinarians are subject, from 1 January 2023, to the normal rate of 20%, instead of the 10% rate applied before this date. “This harmonization comes within the framework of the implementation of the objectives of the framework law n ° 69-19 on tax reform including, in particular, the consecration of the principle of tax equity and the reduction of the number of rates”, can – we retain in this sense. Among the measures is also the establishment of regulatory formalities for the benefit of the exemption of agricultural equipment in terms of VAT. We also note the exemption of simple feedstuffs intended for feeding livestock and farmyard animals from import VAT from January 1, 2023 until December 31, 2023.