Morocco income tax: Lekjaa exempts 87% of workers in 2027
Minister Fouzi Lekjaa details the tax and social reforms in Morocco's 2027 Finance Bill: 87% of salaried workers exempted from income tax, and direct social aid rising gradually to 1,000 dirhams.
Morocco's Minister of Economy, Finance and Administration Reform, Fouzi Lekjaa, has detailed the tax and social reforms planned in the 2027 Finance Bill, confirming that the income tax (IR) exemption threshold will rise from 40,000 to 60,000 dirhams a year, or 5,000 dirhams a month, which will bring the share of salaried workers exempt from this tax to 87%.
A three-bracket scale, and why 30% instead of 20%
According to Lekjaa, the new tax scale will move to just three rates, 10%, 20% and 30%, on top of the fully exempt bracket. The choice of a 30% top rate, rather than the 20% proposed in the Authenticity and Modernity Party's (PAM) electoral programme, is meant to avoid distortions compared with corporate tax: the minister estimated the overall tax burden on company profits, including the 20% corporate tax and dividend taxation, at around 28%. He also noted that setting the exemption threshold at 60,000 dirhams of taxable income does not necessarily mean a net monthly salary of 10,000 dirhams, since deductions and each employee's personal situation affect the final outcome.
Direct social aid rises gradually to 1,000 dirhams by the end of the mandate
On the social side, the minimum direct social aid payment will rise from 500 to 600 dirhams starting in January 2027, then increase by 100 dirhams every year until it reaches 1,000 dirhams by the end of the government's mandate. More than 4 million households, over 12 million people, benefit from it, at an extra cost of close to 3 billion dirhams a year. Lekjaa said eligibility will rely more on household income than on consumption indicators, which sometimes excluded families that deserved the aid, and that a household member taking a job will no longer automatically mean losing this aid, as long as total household income stays below the threshold that exits precarity.
Electricity support and a wholesale-market overhaul to rein in food prices
About 6 million electricity subscribers, 60% of customers whose monthly bill is under 100 dirhams, will receive 100 dirhams of support, aimed at easing their bills and encouraging more moderate consumption, with exact details to be set by implementing texts that account for regional differences in heating and cooling needs. On food products, Morocco plans to set up six regional companies to collect and market farm produce, linking growing areas to consumer markets, alongside the modernisation of 12 wholesale markets for close to 1 billion dirhams, including storage and refrigeration units, plus measures on meat and fish distribution, diversified supply sources, and customs facilities when needed. Lekjaa also voiced reservations about across-the-board price-support mechanisms, arguing their benefits do not mainly reach the most vulnerable households.
These measures are part of the first Finance Bill under Fatima Zahra El Mansouri's government, currently before the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives, and add to other previously announced steps, notably raising the minimum pension to 1,700 dirhams for about 500,000 retirees, and raising corporate tax on large hydrocarbon companies to 40%. The wholesale-market overhaul comes as vegetable prices in Casablanca rose markedly, especially tomatoes, last week, underlining the scale of the challenge the government faces in protecting Moroccans' purchasing power.