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Join on Telegram Rabat – Tax exemptions cost the government MAD 32 billion in 2016, according a report on the matter released on the sidelines of the political drama related to the tabled 2017 budget bill.
The share of taxed income stood at 15.2 percent in 2016, against 15.6 percent last year, though, as a portion of GDP, revenues remained stable at 3.2 percent, the 2017 Finance Law Project said.
The increase in the monetary value of this year’s tax losses stemmed from the heightened exemptions offered to certain sectors, such as housing and military equipment, the two of which saw combined exemptions worth MAD 620 million. The exemption on transferable securities cost MAD 108 million.
The tax analysis also shows that revenues from corporate taxes have fallen by over 10 percent, while revenues from the value-added tax (VAT) have risen by over five percent.
Accordingly, 43.7 percent of the exemptions benefitted corporations, while 26 percent advantaged Moroccan households.
The project also noted that the government would generate over MAD 10 billion from alcohol, gambling and cigarette sales.
A total of MAD 1.26 billion of domestic tax revenues in 2016 will come from alcohol, MAD 9.1 billion from cigarettes and MAD 160 million from gambling.
Several newspapers criticized the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (PJD) “contradictory moralistic discourse” due to the Islamist identity it has exploited to win elections.
Head of Government Abdelilah Benkirane, PJD’s Secretary-General, said that the religious orientation of the party does not determine the policies of the government, but added that one can call any government policy truly “Islamic.”
