Morocco Expat Tax: Foreign Pensions, Rates & CFC

Morocco taxes its residents on their worldwide income, with a scale that reaches 37%. So why do so many retirees move there? Because a foreign pension that you bring into Morocco keeps only a fifth of the tax it would normally pay.

This guide covers Moroccan personal tax for people moving to or living in Morocco in the 2026 tax year (the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December 2026): the foreign pension rules, the Casablanca Finance City rate for employees, the residence test, the income tax scale, freelancing, investments and crypto, social security and how you can stay long term.

The key question is simple. Is your income a foreign pension that you transfer to Morocco, or something else? A transferred pension gets a large abatement and an 80% tax reduction. A salary, freelance profit or foreign investment income is taxed in full, at up to 37% or at a flat 20%.

What's changed: the Finance Law for 2025 (Law 60-24) rewrote the income tax scale from 1 January 2025. The tax-free band rose from MAD 30,000 to MAD 40,000, the top rate fell from 38% to 37%, and the deduction for each dependant rose to MAD 500 a year (up to MAD 3,000). Pensions from Moroccan basic schemes had their tax halved in 2025 and are fully exempt from 1 January 2026. The Finance Law for 2026 (Law 50-25, published on 16 December 2025) extends that exemption to private-sector group pensions run through the CIMR, and sets the Casablanca Finance City employee rate at 20% for up to ten years, with an option to use the normal scale instead. None of this changes the 80% reduction for foreign pensions. A law to regulate crypto-assets (draft Law 42-25) is being prepared but is Proposed, not law.

📋 Morocco tax at a glance for 2026

The foreign pension rules

Why do pensioners look at Morocco? Because the tax code gives two separate reliefs on a foreign pension, and they stack.

Image 1 — a foreign pension brought into Morocco keeps only a fifth of its tax

First, every pension gets a flat abatement before tax is worked out: 70% of the gross amount up to MAD 168,000 a year, and 40% of anything above that. Second, if you're tax resident in Morocco and your pension comes from abroad, you get a reduction equal to 80% of the income tax due on it. The Tax Directorate's 2026 guide sets the conditions:

• Transfer for good: the reduction covers the amounts transferred to Morocco permanently, into an account in non-convertible dirhams.

• Proof: you attach a statement of the pension paid from the pension payer, and a certificate from your Moroccan bank showing the amount transferred in foreign currency and its value in dirhams on the day of transfer.

• Return: you file an annual income return online, and pay any tax, before 1 March of the following year.

Here's how that works on a US$40k pension (MAD 388,000). The abatement is MAD 117,600 on the first MAD 168,000 and MAD 88,000 on the rest, leaving MAD 182,400 taxable. Tax on the scale is MAD 40,088, and the 80% reduction cuts that to about MAD 8,018, or 2.1% of the pension.

Pensions from Moroccan basic schemes (and private-sector group schemes run through the Caisse interprofessionnelle marocaine de retraite) are fully exempt from 2026. That exemption is for the Moroccan schemes listed in the code, so a foreign pension uses the 80% reduction instead. If you keep part of your pension abroad, the reduction applies only to the part you transfer.

👉 Tax Directorate (DGI): tax guide 2026, including foreign pensions (in French)

👉 Ministry of Economy and Finance: tax expenditure report 2026, article 76 reduction (in French)

When you become tax resident in Morocco, and how you stop

Under article 23 of the tax code, you have your tax domicile in Morocco if any of these apply:

• your permanent home (foyer permanent d'habitation) is in Morocco

• the centre of your economic interests is in Morocco

• you stay in Morocco for more than 183 days in total in any 365-day period

The 183-day test is rolling, not tied to the calendar year. And because a permanent home on its own is enough, a home you keep available in Morocco can make you resident even below 183 days.

You stop being resident when none of the three tests applies, so keeping your Moroccan home can hold you in. Morocco has no exit tax. If two countries treat you as resident, a tax treaty decides.

👉 Code général des impôts 2026, article 23 on tax domicile (in French)

Income tax rates for 2026

Salaries, pensions and professional profits are added together and taxed on one scale. The scale has applied since 1 January 2025.

Morocco income tax rates for 2026

Source: Code général des impôts, article 73-I, as amended by the Finance Law for 2025 (Law 60-24). Multiply your whole income by the rate for its band, then take off the amount to deduct.

Employees deduct professional expenses, capped at MAD 35,000 a year, and their own pension and health contributions. You can also take MAD 500 off your tax for each dependant, up to MAD 3,000 a year for six.

👉 Tax Directorate (DGI): summary of the tax measures in the Finance Law for 2025 (in French)

Worked example

• You're single, tax resident and work for a Moroccan employer for the whole of 2026, earning MAD 970,000 (about US$100k at MAD 9.7 to the dollar).

• On our estimate, your CNSS and AMO contributions are about MAD 25,300. Taking those and the MAD 35,000 professional expenses cap off your pay leaves about MAD 909,700 taxable.

• Income tax is 37% of that, less MAD 27,400: about MAD 309,200.

Your all-in bill is about MAD 334,500, or 34.5% of your salary. Income tax alone is 31.9%. Your employer deducts it each month.

The Casablanca Finance City rate

If you work for a company with Casablanca Finance City (CFC) status, your salary is taxed at a flat 20% on your gross salary instead of the scale. The Finance Law for 2026 sets this for up to ten years from the date you take up your post, and periods worked outside CFC companies don't count. You can opt for the normal scale instead by asking your employer before 1 February of the year. On MAD 970,000 that's MAD 194,000 of tax, or about 22.6% all-in. On lower salaries, roughly below MAD 260,000 a year, the normal scale can cost less, so compare both.

👉 Bulletin officiel 7465 bis: Finance Law 50-25 for 2026 (in French)

Freelancing in Morocco

Self-employed profits are taxed on the same scale as salaries, after business expenses. On US$100k of profit (MAD 970,000), income tax is MAD 331,500: about 34.2% before social contributions.

Morocco has a low-rate auto-entrepreneur scheme taxed on turnover, but its turnover ceilings are far below US$100k for service businesses, so most consultants and designers at this level use the ordinary regime. Independent workers also join the compulsory AMO health insurance and the pension scheme for the self-employed (Law 99-15), with contributions set by income bands.

Crypto, investments and pensions

Is crypto taxed in Morocco? There's no clear answer. Bank Al-Maghrib, the capital markets authority (AMMC) and the Office des Changes have jointly warned that using virtual currencies "remains unauthorized in Morocco". The AMMC says a crypto-asset law (draft Law 42-25) is still being finalised in 2026, and there's no official guidance on taxing gains. If gains on crypto held abroad were treated as foreign capital gains, the rate would be 20%.

👉 Office des Changes: joint warning on the use of virtual currencies

👉 AMMC: priority actions 2026, including the crypto-asset framework

• Foreign investment income: dividends, interest and gains on foreign securities are taxed at a flat 20% (article 73-II-F-5°), with credit for foreign tax where a treaty allows.

• Moroccan investments: dividends from Moroccan companies pay 10%, interest on fixed-income investments 20%, and gains on unlisted shares 20%.

• Property: gains on property are taxed at 20%, with a minimum of 3% of the sale price. Your main home is exempt if you've lived in it for at least five years when you sell.

• Pensions: foreign pensions get the 70% and 40% abatements and the 80% reduction set out above.

Morocco has no wealth tax and no exit tax.

Social security

Employees of Moroccan employers join the Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale (CNSS). You pay pension and short-term benefit contributions on pay up to a monthly ceiling, and AMO health insurance on your full pay. On our estimate the employee share comes to about 2.6% of a US$100k salary, because most of it is capped. Your employer pays more.

The self-employed join AMO and the pension scheme for independent workers, with fixed contributions by income band. If you're posted to Morocco by a foreign employer, check whether a social security agreement lets you stay in your home scheme.

Double tax treaties

Does Morocco have double tax treaties? Yes, a wide network across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas. They include:

• United Kingdom: the 1981 convention, in force since 29 November 1990.

• France: the 1970 convention, in force since 1 December 1971. Private pensions are taxed only in the country where you live.

• United States: the 1977 income tax treaty.

Treaties matter for the pension reduction. Under the France convention, for example, a French private pension is taxed only in Morocco once you live there, so the 80% reduction is the only tax relief you need. Check the pension article of your own treaty before you move.

👉 HMRC: Morocco tax treaties

👉 French tax administration: the France-Morocco tax convention (in French)

👉 IRS: Morocco tax treaty documents

Staying long term in Morocco

Morocco doesn't have a digital nomad visa. Citizens of many countries, including the UK, can enter without a visa for tourism. To stay longer, you apply to the police.

• British citizens can visit for up to 90 days without a visa.

• To stay longer than 90 days, you request an extension at a Moroccan police station.

• For reasons other than tourism, check the rules with your nearest Moroccan consulate before you travel.

👉 UK Foreign Office: Morocco entry requirements

Who is Morocco good for?

How does Morocco compare for different kinds of mover? Ratings are relative to the 150+ countries TaxPilot covers, based on 2026 rules and the all-in cost, including social contributions. We convert at MAD 9.7 to US$1, rounded from the US Treasury reporting rate of 30 September 2026 (MAD 9.668).

☑️ Who is Morocco good for? Tax ratings for expats in 2026

Filing and deadlines

The tax year is the calendar year. Employees have income tax deducted each month by their employer. If you have a foreign pension, rental income or other income to declare, you file the annual income return online and pay before 1 March of the following year. For 2026 income, that's before 1 March 2027.

Keep the bank certificates showing the amount of each pension transfer. Gains on property have their own return, due within 30 days of the sale.

Frequently asked questions

How are foreign pensions taxed in Morocco?

If you're tax resident and transfer your pension to Morocco for good in non-convertible dirhams, you get a 70% abatement on the first MAD 168,000 a year and 40% on the rest, then an 80% reduction in the tax due. On a US$40k pension that leaves tax of about 2%. You file and pay before 1 March.

Are pensions tax free in Morocco from 2026?

Pensions from Moroccan basic schemes, and private-sector group schemes run through the CIMR, are fully exempt from 1 January 2026. Foreign pensions aren't covered by that exemption, but they keep the 80% tax reduction if you transfer them to Morocco.

What are the income tax rates in Morocco for 2026?

Income up to MAD 40,000 a year is tax free. Then the rates are 10%, 20%, 30% and 34%, and 37% on income above MAD 180,000. Foreign dividends, interest and gains on securities pay a flat 20% instead.

When do I become tax resident in Morocco?

When your permanent home or the centre of your economic interests is in Morocco, or when you stay more than 183 days in total in any 365-day period. The day count is rolling, so it can straddle two calendar years.

Is crypto taxed in Morocco?

There's no official guidance. Moroccan regulators say trading virtual currencies is still not authorised, and a crypto-asset law (draft Law 42-25) is still being prepared. If gains on crypto held abroad were treated as foreign capital gains, the rate would be 20%.

Does Morocco have a digital nomad visa?

No. British citizens and many others can visit for up to 90 days without a visa. To stay longer, you request an extension at a Moroccan police station.

Where to go next

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