E-commerce allowance in Morocco in 2026: how does a company pay Google, Meta and AWS?

The Office des Changes sets the rules applicable to payments between residents and non-residents in the General Instruction on Foreign Exchange Operations (IGOC), updated every year. The 2026 version, in force since 1 January 2026, raised the e-commerce allowances and broadened the definition of imports of services, whose settlement is delegated to the banks.

For a company, two channels coexist:

1. The international transfer as an import of services: the bank executes it upon presentation of the invoice (and of the contract, where applicable), without prior authorization from the Office des Changes. This is the appropriate channel for large invoices (hosting, annual licences, services based on a quote); its rules are detailed in our guide to paying a foreign supplier from Morocco.
2. The international payment card: a named card issued by a Moroccan bank and linked to the business account, it allows the online payments required by most platforms (Google Ads, Meta, SaaS subscriptions), within the limit of the company's e-commerce allowance.

The allowance is granted per calendar year; the unused balance cannot be carried forward. The manager's personal allowance must not be used to pay the company's expenses: the invoice must be issued in the company's name to be deductible.

These expenses must be related to the business of the company. Purchases of goods (IT equipment) fall under the regime for imports of goods (domiciliation and customs clearance), described in our guide on import-export conditions for Moroccan companies.

Services supplied by a non-resident and used in Morocco are subject to Moroccan VAT (Article 88 of the CGI). When the service provider has no tax representative in Morocco, the VAT is paid by the Moroccan customer on behalf of the non-resident (Article 115 of the CGI):

1. The company calculates the VAT at the rate of 20% on the amount invoiced excluding tax
2. It declares and pays it with its monthly or quarterly VAT return (before the end of the month following the period, via SIMPL)
3. It recovers it by deduction under the conditions of Article 101 of the CGI (VAT actually paid, invoice in the company's name, expense allocated to operations)

The mechanism is in principle neutral in cash terms when the VAT is fully deductible (exclusions under Article 106 of the CGI). If the service provider already charges Moroccan VAT (tax representative or the Article 115 bis regime introduced by the Finance Law (LF 2024)), it is not paid a second time. Omitting it exposes the company to reassessments.

Electronic service expenses that are properly settled and allocated to operations are deductible from taxable income (Article 10 of the CGI: expenses incurred in the interest of the business, recorded in the accounts and supported by evidence, subject to the exclusions of Article 11).

Sums paid to non-residents as remuneration for services used in Morocco or as royalties (software licences) are in principle subject to a 10% withholding tax under IS (Articles 5-II, 15 and 19-IV of the CGI), paid over by the Moroccan company within the month following the payment. A tax treaty between Morocco and the service provider's country may reduce or eliminate this withholding, on presentation of a tax residence certificate: the treatment of each supplier should be validated with your chartered accountant (expert-comptable).

In 2026, IS is 20% below 100 million MAD of net taxable profit, 35% above that, and 40% for credit institutions and insurance companies (Finance Law, LF 2023); details are given in our guide on the IS rate in Morocco in 2026.

Payment must go through a Moroccan bank approved by Bank Al-Maghrib, which:

• Checks the eligibility of the transaction under the IGOC
• Records the allowance of the company and blocks any card payment beyond it
• Charges the payment to the e-commerce allowance, to the import of services (transfer) or to a foreign currency or convertible dirham account
• Sends the reports to the Office des Changes within the regulatory deadlines

To obtain the allowance, the bank in principle asks for:

• Proof of payment of the tax for the last closed financial year (IS, IR or minimum contribution), or failing that, proof of payment of the instalments
• The Commercial Register extract for a new company, or the document certifying the exemption
• Where applicable, the Office des Changes categorization certificate or the ADD label certificate

For each payment, the company keeps:

• The service provider's invoice or order confirmation, issued in the company's name
• Proof of use of the service (campaign, cloud instance, usage log)
• The bank debit advice or the card statement and, for a transfer, the exchange form (formule de change)
• The calculation of the VAT paid on behalf of the non-resident and, where applicable, of the withholding tax

Article 211 of the CGI and Law 9-88 require these documents to be kept for 10 years.

When its needs exceed the e-commerce allowance, the company can:

• Pay invoices by transfer as an import of services, on supporting documents, with no allowance ceiling
• Use a foreign currency account funded by part of its export earnings, or a convertible dirham account (compte en dirhams convertibles, CDC) if it meets the conditions
• Apply for categorization with the Office des Changes (ceiling raised to 1,000,000 MAD) or for the ADD label (2,000,000 MAD)
• Request a special authorization from the Office des Changes for a transaction not covered by the IGOC

Foreign neobanks (Wise, Revolut, etc.) do not hold Bank Al-Maghrib approval to keep a business account for a resident company. A Moroccan company cannot freely hold an account abroad or keep funds there to pay its suppliers: the compliant channel remains the Moroccan bank, by international card or by transfer.

Charikaty is a private Moroccan legal-tech platform specializing in online company formation. Here is what you need to pay Google, Meta or AWS compliantly: a registered company, a business account with a Moroccan bank and an international card backed by the e-commerce allowance. With Charikaty, the company formation is done entirely online, by the simplest and fastest route: we complete all the formalities to set up a company 100% online in Morocco (OMPIC negative certificate, electronically signed articles of association, filing with the commercial court registry, obtaining the IF, the ICE and the professional tax (taxe professionnelle) from the DGI, CNSS affiliation).

As soon as you receive the Commercial Register extract, you can open your business bank account and ask your bank for the international card backed by the minimum allowance of 50,000 MAD. For VAT, withholding tax and reporting, our accounting service refers you to chartered accountants registered with the OEC (Law 15-89). More than 250 companies have already been set up with Charikaty.