Frequently asked questions
Answers to the questions the firm is asked most often: how we work, income tax refunds, leaving Morocco and property transactions. These answers are general in nature and are no substitute for a review of an individual file.
The firm and how it works
What does a typical engagement look like?
Every file follows the same method, in five stages: assessing your situation, the applicable legislation and the documents available; preparing a complete file that meets the tax authority's requirements; filing it with the relevant departments, in the required form; following it up through regular reminders and attendance in person; and carrying the procedure through to its conclusion, with delivery of the corresponding documents. The scope of the engagement is set out in writing before any work begins.
How is the firm paid?
Fees are set out in the engagement letter provided before any work is undertaken, according to the nature of the file and the work it requires. [À COMPLÉTER : principes d'honoraires]. No fee schedule is published online: each proposal is drawn up after an initial review of the situation.
Who receives the funds in the case of a refund?
Refunds are paid by the tax authority directly to the taxpayer. No sums pass through an account held by the firm or by any of its staff. Aurion's role is limited to conducting the procedure through to payment and providing you with the supporting documents.
What does Aurion do, and what does it not do?
Aurion prepares files, submits them to the relevant authorities and follows them up to completion. The firm does not provide investment advice, makes no promise as to outcome and does not act as litigation counsel before the courts: where court representation is required, it is handled by partner lawyers, identified to the client as external, on a file-by-file basis.
What information should I prepare before a first conversation?
A description of your situation (country of residence, nature of the income or transaction concerned), any letters or notices already received from the tax authority, and the main documents available: tax identification number, identity document, deeds, payslips or the supporting documents specific to the transaction. An incomplete file is no obstacle to a first conversation: the firm's first task is precisely to establish the list of documents required.
Do you work remotely?
Yes. The firm regularly handles files for clients who are not in Morocco, in particular non-residents. Exchanges take place remotely; the procedures before the authorities are carried out in person, in Casablanca and with the relevant departments.
Income tax refunds
I am an employee: do I need to file a return in order to obtain a refund?
In most cases, yes. The refund is granted automatically under the General Tax Code, but it is calculated on the basis of the annual global income return: without a return, there is no basis for the calculation (art. 241 bis-I GTC). The filing exemption available to employees paid by a single employer ceases to apply precisely where they consider themselves over-taxed or wish to claim a deduction (art. 86-2° GTC).
How many years back can a claim go?
The analysis covers the years still open under the statute of limitations: the tax authority retains its right to correct shortfalls, errors and omissions until 31 December of the fourth year following the year concerned (art. 232-I GTC), which in practice means reviewing four years. Article 241 bis, which governs refunds, sets no four-year time limit of its own: each case is assessed by reference to the return on which it depends.
Is the refund automatic?
That depends on the legal basis. For withholding taxes credited against global income, the code states that the refund is granted "automatically", calculated on the basis of the return, and provides that it must be made before the end of the year in which the return is filed (art. 241 bis-I GTC). Other situations carry neither automatic treatment nor a time limit of their own, and the tax authority may set off the refund against amounts the taxpayer still owes (art. 237 GTC). Active follow-up of the file therefore remains necessary.
What documents need to be gathered?
For an employee: the year's payslips, supporting documents for the deductions claimed (home loan, retirement insurance, donations), details of family circumstances and the tax identification number. This list is indicative: the exact composition of the file depends on the situation, and the firm establishes it precisely when reviewing the file.
Non-residents and leaving Morocco
Is there such a thing as a "departure tax clearance certificate"?
Not under that name: the word "quitus" does not appear in the General Tax Code, and no provision makes an individual's departure conditional on a closing document. What the code does provide for is different: a prior declaration of departure, its receipt and payment of the tax due (art. 85-I and 173-I GTC). The certificate often confused with a clearance certificate relates to property transfers and concerns the property, not the person.
What are the tax obligations before leaving Morocco?
A taxpayer who ceases to be tax-domiciled in Morocco must file a global income return no later than thirty days before the date of departure (art. 85-I GTC) and pay the tax due on their own initiative within the same period, that tax becoming immediately payable in full (art. 175-I GTC). Moroccan-source income for the year of departure remains taxable for the whole year (art. 27-II GTC).
I left Morocco without declaring my departure: what should I do?
The relationship with the tax authority does not end on departure: failure to file opens the way to assessment on an ex officio basis (art. 228 GTC), unfiled years remain open to reassessment for up to ten years (art. 232-VIII-15° GTC), and a taxpayer without a tax domicile in Morocco is required to elect one there (art. 72 GTC). Regularisation conducted remotely remains possible: the firm handles situations that are already overdue.
What foreign currency allowances am I entitled to?
That depends on your status under the foreign exchange regulations: each allowance (personal travel, studies abroad, e-commerce, family support, medical care) has its own eligible beneficiaries, and entitlement to one does not confer entitlement to another. The personal travel allowance is based on a floor of 100,000 dirhams, increased by a supplement calculated on the income tax paid in the previous year, subject to a cap of 500,000 dirhams per person per calendar year.
Property
I am selling a property in Morocco: what are the tax obligations?
The sale triggers a filing obligation together with payment within thirty days (art. 83-I and 173-I GTC). The property gain is taxed at 20%, subject to a minimum of 3% of the sale price, payable even where no gain arises (art. 144-II GTC). Exemptions exist, in particular for a main residence held as such for at least five years, but they must be substantiated at the time of filing.
Can the amount of tax be established before signing the sale?
Yes. A request for a prior notice (art. 234 quinquies GTC) allows you to obtain from the tax authority, on a request filed within thirty days of the preliminary sale agreement, a written position amounting to an assessment certificate, issued within sixty days and valid for six months. Filing and payment in accordance with that certificate exempt the transaction from a tax audit on property gains and remove the provisional payment based on 5% of the sale price.
What is the certificate required before the deed of sale?
No deed transferring a property may be drawn up before production of a certificate from the collection department evidencing payment of the taxes and duties charged on the property, for the year of the transfer and for previous years (art. 139-IV GTC). It relates to the property, not to the seller, and no provision sets a time limit within which the authority must issue it: it should therefore be anticipated from the moment the sale is being prepared.
A question not covered on this page
The answers above are general: for a specific situation, write to us and the firm will tell you how to proceed.