LAW 69-21 ENACTING SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO PAYMENT TERMS WAS PUBLISHED IN THE MOROCCAN OFFICIAL GAZETTE
05/07/2023
Law 69-21 enacting special provisions relating to payment terms was published in the Moroccan Official Gazette on June 15th, 2023 and introduces the following new features:
- Mandatory agreement between the parties (merchants registered in Morocco) on a payment period for sums due, starting from the issuance date of the invoice:
- This period is set at 60 days when it is not agreed between the parties;
- When agreed, this period may not exceed 120 days;
- An exception may be made by decree for certain specific or seasonal sectors (180 days).
- Establishment of an invoicing deadline: invoices must be issued before the end of the month during which the service was rendered or the goods delivered. In the absence of an invoice, the above payment deadlines begin to run from the end of the month in which the service was rendered, or the goods delivered.
- Obligation to file a quarterly return accompanied by a detailed statement of invoices exceeding payment deadlines.
This return must be endorsed by :
- A statutory auditor, for companies with a turnover of MAD 50,000,000 VAT excluded or more;
- A chartered accountant or approved accountant, for companies with a turnover of less than MAD 50,000,000 VAT excluded.
The return must be filed even if there are no invoices exceeding the payment deadlines.
- The above filing obligation comes into force progressively according to the following timetable:
- For companies with a turnover exceeding MAD 50,000,000 VAT excluded, from July 2023;
- For companies with a turnover between MAD 10,000,000 and MAD 50,000,000 VAT excluded, from January 2024;
- For companies with a turnover between MAD 5,000,000 and MAD 2,000,000 VAT excluded, from January 2025.
This obligation does not apply to companies with a turnover of MAD 2,000,000 VAT excluded or less.
- Failure to file or delay in filing the quarterly return or the detailed statement, as well as failure to pay, will incur penalties ranging from MAD 5,000 to MAD 250,000, depending on the company's turnover.
- A fine will also be imposed for failure to comply with the above obligations. This fine will be calculated at Bank-Al-Maghrib's key rate, plus 0.85% per month or fraction of a month of delay.
Invoices issued before January 1st, 2025 and amounting to less than MAD 10,000 VAT excluded are not affected by the above fine.
The invoices concerned are those issued from July 2023 onwards.
NAZALI TAX & LEGAL
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