House of Councilors’ Finance Committee Adopts 2024 Finance Bill’s First Part

  During a meeting on Friday evening, the first part of the bill was approved by 11 votes for, 4 against and two abstentions.

During this meeting, held in the presence of Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah, and Minister Delegate in charge of the Budget, Fouzi Lekjaa, the amendments mainly focused on the progressive reform of the Value Added Tax (VAT), the internal consumption tax, customs duty rates, as well as VAT rates to guarantee neutrality.

In this regard, the import duty applied to smartphones was set at 17.5%, compared to 30% initially proposed by the government.

As part of the modification of the provisions of Article 6 of the General Tax Code, the amendments presented by the deputies included the tax price, the exemption without right of deduction, the exemption with right of deduction, the exemption from import VAT, in addition to the exemption procedures and the examination of the tax situation of individuals.

During this meeting, a proposed amendment relating to the permanent exemption of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Science and Health from corporate tax was approved.

Concerning the reform of the income tax calculation scale to improve the income of middle and low-income social classes, the proposals insisted on the need to achieve tax fairness.

The majority deputies also presented a proposal aimed at reducing the VAT rate from 14% to 10% for passenger transport operations, in order to preserve the purchasing power of citizens. An amendment approved by the government, which affirmed the impact of this measure on transport prices, and which will be implemented gradually from January 1, 2024.