Property owner taxes in Morocco: housing tax, TSC and vacant land tax

Each year an owner pays up to three local taxes under Law 47-06 on local authority taxation: the housing tax (taxe d’habitation, رسم السكن), the communal services tax (taxe de services communaux, TSC) and, for undeveloped urban land, the vacant urban land tax (taxe sur les terrains urbains non bâtis, TNB).

Since 12 June 2025 and Law 14-25, the tax administration (Direction générale des impôts, DGI) issues and collects the housing tax and the TSC instead of the Treasury. Bases, rates and exemptions did not change. The TNB is still handled by the municipalities, through municipal tax collectors created by the same law.

It applies to your main or secondary home, in the name of the owner or usufructuary. The base is the rental value set by an assessment committee by comparison with nearby properties, revised every five years with a 2% increase.

Scale applied to the annual rental value:

• up to 5,000 MAD: exempt;
• 5,001 to 20,000 MAD: 10%;
• 20,001 to 40,000 MAD: 20%;
• above 40,000 MAD: 30%.

For a main residence, the rental value is cut by 75% before the scale applies. An MRE also gets this for their home in Morocco, including when it is occupied free of charge by their spouse, children or parents. A new home used as a main residence is exempt for five years after completion; a secondary home is not.

It comes on top of the housing tax and covers all built property, whatever its use, including a home that is let or empty. The rate is 10.5% of the rental value in urban municipalities, designated centres and summer, winter or spa resorts, and 6.5% in the outskirts of urban municipalities.

A main residence gets the same 75% reduction. However, the five-year exemption for new homes does not apply to the TSC: it is due as soon as the property is recorded.

Tax notices are issued in the name of the owner or usufructuary, even when the home is let: as far as the tax office is concerned, they are the one liable. The housing tax targets the home you live in or lend free of charge; a let home is in principle not subject to it, but the TSC is still due, without the 75% reduction, and its base can then be the rent. The rent itself is also subject to income tax.

If your home is empty because of major works, or because it is for sale or for rent, file a vacancy declaration in January of the following year (by 31 January at the latest), stating the premises, the period, the reason and supporting documents. It counts as a request for relief from the housing tax for that period; the TSC is still due.

The owner of undeveloped land inside the urban perimeter pays an annual tax per m², set by the municipality within a legal range. Law 14-25 raised these ranges, unchanged since 2008, and linked them to how well the area is equipped (roads, water, electricity, sanitation, public facilities). They apply from 2026:

• well-equipped areas: 15 to 30 MAD/m²;
• intermediate equipment: 5 to 15 MAD/m²;
• poorly equipped areas: 0.5 to 2 MAD/m².

The president of the municipal council sets the zones, with the governor’s approval. Casablanca, for instance, adopted a single rate of 30 MAD/m² from 1 January 2026: a 500 m² plot there costs 15,000 MAD a year.

Exemptions: land on which the tax would be under 200 MAD, land not served by the networks, and a temporary three-year exemption from 1 January after the building permit is issued. You declare and pay at the municipality’s collection office before 1 March each year; lateness brings a 15% surcharge.

The owner or usufructuary files a declaration per building (form ADP060, downloadable from tax.gov.ma) by 31 January of the following year at the latest:

• on completion of a new building or an extension;
• after a change of owner (purchase, gift, inheritance);
• after a change of use, for example from residential to professional;
• in case of vacancy, with the relief request.

After a purchase, this declaration makes sure later notices are issued in your name, not the seller’s. A late or missing declaration brings a 15% surcharge on the tax.

Housing tax and TSC are paid on a tax notice, usually by 31 May; in 2026 the deadline moved to Monday 1 June because 31 May fell on a Sunday. You can pay on the DGI portal (tax.gov.ma), in banks’ apps and websites, at cash machines or at the tax collector’s office.

Not receiving a notice does not exempt you: check your situation on tax.gov.ma or at your city’s tax office. As a guide, Law 47-06 (Article 147) provides for late payment a 10% penalty, a 5% surcharge for the first month and then 0.5% for each extra month.

Before you sell, pay what is owed: the notary can only draw up the deed once shown a certificate that the property’s taxes are paid for the year of sale and previous years (quitus fiscal, CGI Article 139-IV).