EU Reiterates Approval of Morocco’s Business, Free Trade Tax Reforms

Published in Morocco World News on May 5, 2020:

Rabat - The European Union (EU) has reiterated its approval of Morocco’s tax reforms in business and free trade, according to a press release from the Ministry of Economy, Finance, and Administration Reform.

The EU Council said the reforms align with the legislation and expectations of Brussels, according to the statement.

The European Union carefully analyzed Morocco’s reforms, ensuring they follow several specific criteria, said the ministry.

The EU Council Code of Conduct Group published a report on April 30 detailing the criteria. The analysis took into account Moroccan Finance Law No. 70-19, an appropriation bill that addressed tax regimes the EU had deemed harmful.

The European body stressed that the reforms do not compromise free trade agreements or the business regime, said the statement.

Morocco’s reforms meet European conditions under “grandfather” clauses, according to the ministry.

The council’s reaffirmation is a progressive step for Morocco’s collaborative relationship with the EU, the ministry said.

The reforms illustrate how Morocco continues to respect the framework for its final exit from the EU gray list in October, the press release stated.

The “gray list” refers to countries that have made a commitment to meeting European Council (EC) standards for transparency, fair tax competition, and implementing base erosion profit sharing (BEPS).

The EC added Morocco to the gray list in 2018, giving the country time to reform its fiscal policies. In 2019, the EU declined to move Morocco to its “blacklist” of tax havens and granted Morocco until the end of 2019 to enact further reforms due to demonstrated progress in fiscal reform.

Morocco has continued to make strides in its tax reforms, and its continued presence on the gray list “is not indicative of a lack of commitment or ambition in this direction,” said the EU Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, on February 18.      

The European Commission expressed its appreciation of Morocco’s tax reforms earlier this year.

“We welcome the reforms introduced by Morocco in the 2020 appropriation which amends three preferential tax regimes that had been considered harmful to the European Union,” said Gentiloni.