Finance Bill: 2024 Three green projects in the pipeline
The tragedy of the effects of the earthquake is not distracting the executives of the Ministry in charge of the Budget from continuing with the preparation of the Finance Bill for 2024. Executives from the Finance Department’s Budget Directorate are continuing their meetings with all the ministries. The aim is to reach agreement on the appropriations they will receive for next year. In addition to the benefits of three-year planning, the document contains a wealth of very useful information. This is the case for the three major projects to be carried out in 2024.
■ Carbon tax: A study has already been carried out, in line with the reform on taxation. The aim is to enable Moroccan companies to maintain their international competitiveness. Next year will be devoted to the design of this tax, through the definition of its scope and the terms of its implementation. This operation will be carried out in consultation with the ministerial departments concerned, with the technical support of international financial institutions.
■ Extension of the TIC (domestic consumption tax) to other energy-intensive equipment: Under the promotion of energy efficiency, consumers will be encouraged to use the most economical equipment in terms of electricity consumption. This will be achieved by applying a TIC (domestic consumption tax) to equipment, the rates of which will be differentiated according to the equipment’s energy efficiency index. This approach was initiated by the 2022 Finance Law, with the introduction of a green TIC tax on high-consumption electrical equipment. By 2024, the laws and regulations making the standards mandatory will have been finalized. This will facilitate the implementation of «an effective taxation system», according to the energy class of the products and equipment concerned. The finalization of this stage will also make it possible to consider extending the scope of TIC taxation to other energy-intensive equipment, in order to guide consumers’ purchasing decisions.
■ The customs tariff for an environmental policy at the border: The final project concerns the greening of the import tariff. The aim is to make the customs tariff greener and to support ecological policy measures, so that the role of the nomenclature as a statistical tool for international trade can be expanded to become equally sustainable. This will be achieved through measures to control, restrict, or facilitate trade. Above all, one needs to establish a customs tax system that will promote or discourage the cross-border movement of certain products, depending on their environmental impact.
Mohamed CHAOUI
