Morocco 2027 Budget Bill: Committee Approves Part One

Morocco's House of Representatives Finance and Economic Development Committee approved Part One of Finance Bill No. 60.26 for 2027 on Thursday morning, by 23 votes, against opposition from MPs of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the Justice and Development Party (PJD) and the Federation of the Democratic Left, in the presence of Economy and Finance Minister Fouzi Lekjaa, according to Hespress. Part One moves tomorrow Friday and the day after, Saturday, to plenary sessions of the House of Representatives, ahead of the final vote on the whole bill, according to Al3omk.

Hundreds of amendments, few accepted

The committee examined 280 amendments filed by majority and opposition groups, of which the government accepted only 61, according to figures published by Al3omk:

What the new corporate tax reform changes

Lekjaa presented the committee with a reform that moves corporate tax from more than 14 brackets to just four rates: 0%, 20%, 35% and 40%, based on the conclusions of the National Tax Forum, aiming to unify rates especially for firms close to a monopoly position. The biggest debate centered on Article 19, covering telecom, cement and fuel companies: the majority proposed a 40% rate for these sectors; the PJD asked to keep a 10% rate for firms whose net profit does not exceed 500,000 dirhams; the Federation of the Democratic Left proposed raising the rate to 45% for firms with net profit of 100 million dirhams or more, and to 50% for credit institutions; the RNI withdrew its proposal for a tiered rate between 35% and 40% for fuel companies. Lekjaa said banks already pay 40% and telecom companies pay 35% plus an additional contribution equal to 3% of turnover, and that there is no direct link between the corporate tax rate and fuel prices.

Electricity bills and income tax: who benefits?

Among the amendments the government accepted, Article 42 raises the annual turnover ceiling for self-employed entrepreneurs subject to withholding tax from 80,000 to 100,000 dirhams, and lowers the withholding rate from 30% to 20%, a measure concerning self-employed entrepreneurs and those under the unified professional contribution regime. The government also accepted raising the domestic consumption tax on cigars from 750 to 1,125 dirhams per thousand units, and from 35% to 50% in value. In the same session, MP Ahmed El Abadi, of the Party of Progress and Socialism, said the government defended exempting electricity bills under 100 dirhams, a measure benefiting about 6 million households, along with improving widows' pensions, which WaFinkom had already published in detail, and exempting 87% of wage earners from income tax, according to Le360, quoting El Abadi.

What comes next in the vote

According to the schedule published by Al3omk, the first plenary session opens tomorrow, Friday, at half past nine in the morning with the finance committee's report, followed by group interventions in the general debate on Part One, then a second session at two in the afternoon the same day. The day after, Saturday, from nine in the morning, the government will respond to groups' interventions, followed by the vote on Part One, then permanent committees voting on the sub-budgets, then the general debate on Part Two and its vote, and finally the vote on the whole bill.

On the budget balances, MP Nabila Mounib, of the Federation of the Democratic Left, said the finance bill shows a gap of about 159 billion dirhams between revenue and spending, and that the government plans to borrow 120 billion dirhams, leaving a balance of 39 to 40 billion dirhams to be covered by new loans, according to Le360.