Morocco Minister outlines income tax reforms to boost purchasing power

Moroccan Minister of Economy, Finance, and Public Efficiency, Fouzi Lekjaa, has detailed new income tax reforms designed to improve the net income of employees and achieve greater tax justice. Speaking on a television program, Lekjaa explained that the reforms aim to alleviate the tax burden on the middle class and regular wage earners as tax revenues have improved in recent years.

Key measures include increasing the annual tax-exempt income threshold from 40,000 dirhams to 60,000 dirhams. This change is expected to exempt approximately 87% of employees from income tax, including those earning up to 5,000 dirhams per month. The reform will also reduce the number of tax brackets from five to three.

Lekjaa provided specific projections for salary increases: an employee earning 11,000 dirhams monthly will see an initial increase of 500 dirhams, while those earning 25,000 dirhams could see cumulative increases reaching 4,769 dirhams by the end of the government's term. To ensure stability, the minister noted that these reforms will be finalized once to cover the next five years rather than being subject to annual adjustments.

To balance these measures, the government plans to increase taxes on large corporations in sectors characterized by monopolies, such as hydrocarbons. Specifically, companies with revenues exceeding 100 million dirhams in these sectors will see their tax rate rise from 35% to 40%.