Finance Bill: Heading for the Official Gazette
The end of the road for the 2025 Finance Bill. The House of Representatives adopted the next budget on second reading in the Finance Committee on Friday morning, December 06. The plenary session was scheduled for the same day. After this final stage, the draft Finance Act was sent to the printing works of the Secretariat General of the Government (SGG) for publication in the Official Gazette.
According to Fouzi Lekjaâ, the government responded positively to the various amendments proposed by parliamentary groups, particularly the majority, and the Moroccan Employers’ Association (CGEM). Indeed, of the 231 amendments tabled, 66 were accepted by the House of Councillors. One of the major changes introduced was the abandonment of the Members of the House of Representatives|’ amendment concerning honey, which had lowered the import duty on this product from 40% to 2.5% for packages over 20 kilos. The councillors annulled this amendment. The goal is to protect national honey production, particularly in the face of the constraints and challenges facing the sector. Thus, table honey, whatever its packaging condition, remains subject to a 40% import duty. It should be noted that the Members of the House of Representatives usually refuse to touch amendments of their own making, encouraged in this by the primacy enjoyed by the House of Representatives. But this time, they acquiesced. In any case, on the subject of customs, the decree on domestic cattle and sheep was discussed. This decree was issued on November 24 to ensure the continued supply of red meat to the local market. Parliamentarians wanted to increase the number of heads of cattle and sheep benefiting from the suspension of import duties. The decree does just that. As a result, the number of heads in each category has been increased from 120,000 to 200,000.
The other subject discussed by the Finance Committee concerned the taxation of games of chance. In the case of foreign gambling on the Internet, banks and credit institutions will be required to withhold 30% of winnings at source. As regards domestic gambling, the exemption for winnings of less than 5,000 dirhams (USD 500) has been abolished. On the other hand, companies operating in this sector in Morocco will be subject to the 2% Social Solidarity Contribution. This Contribution will be calculated on the basis of the same amount of net profit used to calculate corporate tax or income tax, depending on actual net income. The money collected will go into the Social Cohesion Fund.
Mohamed CHAOUI
