A tax measure in the 2027 Finance Bill has turned into a political quarrel. The text raises the corporate tax rate from 35% to 40% for companies that import or distribute fuel and whose net profit reaches 100 million dirhams or more. When opposition groups voted against the relevant article in committee, critics accused them of contradicting themselves. On Saturday 14 November, the PJD replied that it never opposed the increase itself.
What the measure does
According to Morocco World News, the provision targets 11 fuel companies whose annual profits exceed 100 million dirhams. In 2026 they fell under the general corporate rate of 35%, while the 40% rate applied to categories listed in Article 19 of the General Tax Code, such as credit institutions and insurers.
Economy and Finance Minister Fouzi Lekjaa told the committee that the measure concerns only the fuel sector and assured members that the increase would not reach pump prices. The question that ran through the debate was whether the companies would absorb the cost from their profits or pass it on to drivers.
The positions in committee
The groups pulled in different directions:
- the Popular Movement tabled an amendment to keep the rate at 35%, warning that companies could shift the burden onto motorists, and asked for government guarantees;
- the Left Alliance proposed lowering the profit threshold from 100 to 50 million dirhams, and another amendment setting a 45% rate for fuel companies and extending it to telecom, cement, and sugar production and refining, with corporate tax plus the social solidarity contribution capped at 60% of net profit;
- the majority and the PJD converged on applying the 40% rate to large cement and telecom companies, which the majority described as "quasi-monopolistic" — before the majority withdrew its own proposal once it saw it would be defeated;
- the RNI objected to what it called "one-upmanship" against sectors that drive the economy.
The opposition's vote against the article drew criticism because the PJD and the Left Alliance regularly denounce the profits of the large fuel companies.
The PJD's reply
In a statement released on 14 November, Idriss El Azami El Idrissi, head of the PJD group, said the party "did not vote against raising the tax to 40% on fuel companies" but against the article "in the form proposed by the government", after the majority rejected its amendment to widen the measure. He said the group had backed the increase and wanted it to apply equally to telecom and cement firms with net profits of at least 100 million dirhams.
He accused someone inside the finance committee of leaking a "misleading" account to several websites. He cited Article 4 of Framework Law 69.19 on tax reform, which calls for a stronger corporate contribution from firms in regulated activities or in monopoly or oligopoly positions, and related Competition Council recommendations. The party also pointed to its amendment No. 21 to Article 19-II-D of the General Tax Code, one of its 82.
The outcome in plenary
On Saturday, during the vote on the first part of the bill, the House rejected the amendments extending the 40% rate to telecommunications and cement companies, according to Morocco World News. The House then approved the first part by 179 votes to 126.
A wider criticism of the bill
El Azami used the occasion to restate the PJD's objections to the budget. He called it "a mere accounting document" leaning toward "continuity more than change", and criticised the permanent exemption from import duty and VAT on cattle, sheep and meat imports, which party documents put at 37 billion dirhams between 2022 and late 2027 with no effect on prices. He also contrasted a promised average growth of 5% over 2027-2031 with a first budget built on 3.7%.
Main image: illustration, a petrol pump nozzle (file photo) — Rama, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 FR.
Sources
- Morocco World News — PJD Denies Voting Against 40% Fuel Tax, Pushes to Extend It to Telecom and Cement
- Morocco World News — Morocco's Opposition Votes Against 40% Tax on Fuel Firms, Drawing Charges of Contradiction
- Le360 — PLF 2027 : le PJD explique pourquoi il a voté contre la surtaxe de 40 % sur les sociétés pétrolières
- Morocco World News — Morocco's Parliament Approves First Part of 2027 Finance Bill With 179 Votes
