Income and gains from securities of foreign source

Definition

What this covers

Article 84 bis, added to the code by the Finance Act for 2026, provides that taxpayers holding foreign-source income or gains from securities not subject to the withholding provided for in article 174-II-C must file with the tax administration, at the same time as payment, an annual return summarising that income and those gains art. 84 bis CGI.

The test for the scope is therefore neither the nature of the security nor the country of source : it is the absence of a Moroccan withholding. Where the securities are held in an account with an authorised financial intermediary acting as securities account keeper, or declared with a bank, the withholding is made by that intermediary or that bank, and the income falls outside the scope of article 84 bis art. 174-II-C. In every other case — securities held outside those channels, accounts opened directly abroad — the filing burden and the payment fall on the taxpayer themselves.

Scope

Who is affected

• Individuals whose tax domicile is in Morocco, taxable on all their income and gains of Moroccan and foreign source art. 23-I-1°.
• Those whose foreign securities are neither held in an account with an authorised financial intermediary acting as securities account keeper, nor declared with a bank within the meaning of article 174-II-C.
• Those receiving foreign-source income from securities — dividends, interest and similar income — with no Moroccan withholding.
• Those realising gains on the disposal of securities and other foreign-source instruments in the same circumstances.

This income and these gains do not feed into global income subject to the scale : they are excluded from it where they fall under the specific rates in full discharge provided for in article 73 (II-C-2° and F-5°), « under the conditions provided for in articles 173 and 174 » art. 25 CGI. The rate is 15 % on the gross amount of foreign-source income from securities art. 73-II-C-2° and 20 % on gross gains of the same source art. 73-II-F-5° ; both levies are among those the code declares to be in full discharge of income tax art. 73-II.

Applicable rules

One return, one payment, one certificate

Article 84 bis links three inseparable obligations. The return is annual and summary : it covers income and gains received, made available or credited to an account during the previous year. It is filed at the same time as payment of the tax, as article 173-I confirms in setting spontaneous payment of the tax due on that gross income and those gross gains before 1 April of the following year.

The return is filed in a form established by the administration. It must be accompanied by all documents evidencing the amounts received and by a certificate from the foreign tax administration stating the taxable basis and the amount of tax paid art. 84 bis. It comes from the tax administration of the source country, not from the institution keeping the account.

There remains the tax already borne abroad. The code organises its crediting against this income only in article 174-II-C, and only for authorised financial intermediaries and banks, which apply it before payment over. Article 84 bis contains no cross-reference to article 77, and article 77 by its wording covers the income in article 25 (3^rd paragraph), from which foreign securities income subject to the rates in full discharge under articles 73-II-C-2° and F-5° is precisely excluded. Outside an intermediation channel, the interaction is therefore not settled by the text : it calls for a review of the individual position, and the certificate from the foreign tax administration required by article 84 bis is its documentary support.

Deadlines and limitation periods

The timeline

1. From 1 January 2026

   Article 84 bis and the corresponding amendments to articles 173-I, 174-II, 184 and 228-I apply to disposals of securities made and to foreign-source income received from that date Finance Act 50-25, art. 7-IV-11.

2. Before 1 April 2027

   First filing deadline, in respect of the year 2026, the tax being paid at the same time art. 84 bis and 173-I.

3. Then each year, before 1 April

   Summary return of income and gains received, made available or credited to an account during the previous year.

4. Two periods of thirty days

   Where no return is filed, the taxpayer is invited to file within thirty days, then informed of the estimated bases, a second thirty-day period preceding an ex officio assessment art. 228.

5. Until 31 December of the 4^th year

   The administration's power to make good, following the year in which the income arose art. 232-I ; for years never filed, liability extends up to a limit of ten years art. 232-VIII-15°.

The starting point is receipt, being made available or being credited to an account : three alternative events, the first to occur determining the year of attachment.

Documents and supporting evidence

What the file contains

The file rests on the following elements :

• Identification details : address of the tax domicile, national identity card or foreign national's card, and tax identification number.
• Evidence of the amounts received : article 84 bis requires « all documents evidencing the amounts received », without settling a list — documents establishing, income by income and disposal by disposal, the gross amounts and the date they were received, made available or credited to an account.
• The certificate from the foreign tax administration : the document article 84 bis names and makes a mandatory accompaniment to the return, stating the taxable basis and the amount of tax paid in the country of source art. 84 bis.
• Elements relating to how the securities are held : documents making it possible to establish that the securities do not fall within the withholding channel of article 174-II-C, on which the very applicability of article 84 bis depends.

This list is indicative ; the exact composition of the file depends on the circumstances.

Points to watch

What can derail a file