Dormant companies: Penalty amnesty extended for another year

The «amnesty» for dormant companies will be extended. Introduced by the 2023 Finance Bill, it has been extended for a further year, from January 01 to December 31, 2024.

So far, the scheme has not been a «success», as few companies have signed up to it. Ignorance of the legal framework, even though the Moroccan employers association (CGEM) has launched an appeal to its members, fear of the taxman, last-minute syndrome which means that companies sign up to the scheme in the last few days of the year…. several explanations have been put forward for the lack of eagerness or even enthusiasm. In any case, the one-year extension offers inactive companies an opportunity to regularize their situation vis-à-vis the tax authorities.

The scheme offers interesting advantages, and will also enable the tax authorities to clean up their books. Subscribers benefit from exemption from tax audits, as well as the automatic cancellation of surcharges, fines, and penalties for failure to file returns and pay taxes in respect of years not barred by the statute of limitations. This is an amnesty for late payment surcharges and penalties.

This legal framework is aimed at two categories of businesses: inactive businesses and businesses with no sales or which only pay the minimum contribution and find themselves facing difficulties.

Inactive companies, estimated at 250,000 entities, which have not met any tax obligations for the last three financial years and have not carried out any operations during this period, are invited to submit a declaration of cessation of activity. In principle, they have a period of 30 days from the date of notification by the tax authorities, failing which they are automatically registered. Once this formality has been completed, inactive companies benefit from the suspension of the automatic taxation procedure.

For their part, taxpayers who have not generated any sales or paid the minimum contribution for the last four financial years will also benefit from the automatic cancellation of penalties for failure to file returns and pay taxes. These taxpayers will also be exempt from tax audits. For this purpose, they are required to file a declaration of total cessation of activity. They are also required to spontaneously pay a lump sum of 5,000 dirhams (456 euros) in corporate income tax or personal income tax , as the case may be, for each financial year in which the statute of limitations has not expired. 

Fiscal years that have been subject to one of the procedures for rectifying tax bases are excluded from this transitional regime. Transactions such as the transfer of customers or capital gains on disposals are still taxable under ordinary law. Tax authorities may also initiate an audit under «ordinary law» in the event of fraud, forgery, or the use of false invoices.

Khadija MASMOUDI