What legal obligations must you meet after setting up a company in Morocco in 2026?

The General Tax Code (CGI) 2026 organizes several levies, whose start-up registrations and returns are presented in the tax obligations of a new company:

• Corporate Income Tax (Impôt sur les Sociétés, IS): proportional rate of 20% (net taxable profit below 100 million MAD), 35% from 100 million MAD and 40% for the financial sector (Article 19), applicable to SARLs, SARL AUs, SASs and SAs. Annual return of the result within 3 months of the year-end (Article 20), four instalments of 25% during the financial year (Article 170), minimum contribution (cotisation minimale) of 0.25% of turnover (minimum 3,000 MAD) after an exemption during the first 36 months of operation (Article 144), and social solidarity contribution for profits of at least 1 million MAD
• Income Tax (Impôt sur le Revenu, IR): withheld at source by the employer on salaries according to the scale in Article 73, paid over every month, with an annual return of wages and salaries before 1 March (Article 79); it also concerns partners in partnerships (sociétés de personnes) that have not opted for IS
• VAT (TVA): standard rate of 20%, monthly returns if the previous year's taxable turnover reaches 1 million MAD, quarterly below that and for new taxpayers, electronic filing and payment before the end of the month following the period (Articles 87 to 125)
• Professional tax (taxe professionnelle): exemption for the first 5 years of operation for any newly created activity (Law 47-06)
• Regimes for natural persons: the auto-entrepreneur (Law 114-13) pays a final IR of 0.5% or 1% of turnover collected, and the Single Professional Contribution (Contribution Professionnelle Unique, CPU) applies to traders and service providers operating in their own name; neither concerns a company

Returns are filed via the SIMPL platform of the General Directorate of Taxes (Direction Générale des Impôts, DGI). Electronic filing and electronic payment are mandatory for all companies (Articles 155 and 169 of the CGI). Together with its return of the result, the company must also declare remuneration paid to third parties (fees, commissions).

Article 211 of the CGI and Article 22 of Law 9-88 require accounting documents, invoices and supporting documents to be kept for 10 years. Invoices must bear the mandatory particulars, including the ICE of both parties.

The company's affiliation with the National Social Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale), provided for by Dahir No. 1-72-184 of 27 July 1972, is obtained upon formation; declaring employees becomes mandatory from the first hire: each employee is registered and their arrivals and departures are declared; the employer's CNSS obligations then apply every month.

In 2026, contributions amount to 21.09% for the employer share (family allowances 6.40%, social benefits 8.98% capped at 6,000 MAD per month, AMO 4.11%, vocational training tax 1.60%) and 6.74% for the employee share (social benefits 4.48% capped, AMO 2.26%), i.e. 27.83% in total. Salary declarations and payments are monthly via the DAMANCOM portal. Businesses set up until 31 December 2026 may benefit from the Tahfiz scheme (CGI, Article 57-20°): IR exemption for 24 months and payment by the State of the employer's CNSS share for a maximum of ten employees on permanent contracts (CDI) whose gross salary does not exceed 10,000 MAD per month, recruited within two years of the start of operations.

Law 65-99 enacting the Labour Code governs, as detailed in the Labour Code rules for employers:

• Employment contracts: the permanent contract (CDI) is the general rule; the fixed-term contract (CDD) is only possible in the cases provided for by law (replacement, temporary increase in activity, seasonal work) and, for a new business, for a maximum of one year renewable once; CDI probation period of 3 months for managers, one and a half months for employees and 15 days for workers, renewable once
• Statutory working hours: 44 hours per week, and the SMIG (minimum wage) of 17.92 MAD per hour since 1 January 2026 (3,422.72 MAD gross per month)
• Paid leave (one and a half working days per month of work), public holidays, obligations relating to hygiene, safety, occupational medicine and staff representation, the staff register and the internal regulations from ten employees
• Statutory severance pay, calculated by length-of-service bands (96, 144, 192 and 240 hours of salary per year depending on length of service, Article 53 of the Labour Code) and the notice period set by Decree No. 2-04-469

Every year, every SARL, SAS and SA holds an AGO within six months of the year-end (Article 70 of Law 5-96 for the SARL; Article 115 of Law 17-95 for the SA; in the SAS, according to the articles of association) and files its approved financial statements with the registry of the Commercial Court within 30 days (Article 95 of Law 5-96; Article 158 of Law 17-95): these deadlines are detailed in the calendar of companies' annual obligations. Failure to file exposes the directors to a fine, deprives the company of proof of good standing required by banks, contracting parties and government departments and may bar it from certain public support schemes; late filing remains possible in order to regularize the situation, and the other risks are presented in the penalties for companies' non-compliance.

Any amendment to the articles of association (registered office, capital, management, corporate purpose, transfer of shares) must be the subject of an amending entry in the Commercial Register (inscription modificative) and of a publication in the Official Bulletin and in a legal announcements journal. In the event of cessation of activity, the declaration to the DGI must be made within 45 days (Article 150 CGI), before dissolution, liquidation and removal from the RC. With Charikaty, the drafting of deeds, electronic signature, filing with the registry and legal publications are done online.