Following the approval of Draft Finance Law No. 60.24 for 2025, a renewed debate has emerged “over taxing the profits of online influencers and content creators, emphasizing the need to monitor their earnings under “service export oversight.”
The Foreign Exchange Office confirmed that “individual service exports are monitored by supervisory bodies within the Office to ensure compliance with Moroccan financial laws.”
“The Office has stepped up efforts to inform Moroccan YouTubers and influencers receiving income from abroad about the need to repatriate their earnings and comply with exchange regulations, working closely with the General Directorate of Taxes,” an informed source told Hespress.
“Amid the growth of digital activities and rapid technological advancements, the office has set up a dedicated unit to track online transactions, focusing on service exports through digital platforms,” added the same source. “Equipped with advanced tools and a comprehensive database, the unit ensures precise monitoring and effective oversight of suspicious activities.”
The Foreign Exchange Office has monitored individual transactions with foreign entities in 2018, and they began monitoring a sample of online service exports in 2019.
According to official data shared with Hespress, individuals’ digital activities and service exports generated 3 billion MAD between 2018 and 2022.
Under exchange regulations, services offered by Moroccan residents to foreign clients for payment are classified as service exports.
The same source told Hespress that “the oversight aims to identify and penalize violations of exchange regulations, such as failing to repatriate earnings, holding assets abroad, or using export revenues for unauthorized payments.”
It added that “recognizing the sector’s importance for foreign currency, there is a pressing need for a robust legal and regulatory framework and the Foreign Exchange Office is open to suggestions to refine its legal framework.”
Service exports are defined as “any service provided within or outside Morocco by a resident to a non-resident, in exchange for payment.”
According to the 2024 Foreign Exchange Operations Guide, exporters must meet deadlines for repatriating export earnings and can benefit from advantages like opening foreign currency or convertible dirham accounts.
Digital service exporters and content creators must repatriate all their export earnings to Morocco within 90 days of providing the service. Registered individuals and businesses can open foreign currency or convertible dirham accounts to cover business expenses, with up to 70% of export earnings allowed in these accounts.
Non-registered individuals earning foreign income can also open similar accounts, as long as they report the income in writing to the Moroccan bank, explaining the source of the earnings.
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