Morocco launches digital services tax for tech giants in 2026

Digital platforms have become the virtual extension of our daily lives. Meta, X, Instagram, TikTok, as well as Netflix, Spotify and Airbnb: these tools that capture the attention of billions around the world are no longer mere spaces for entertainment or social connection. They have evolved into economic machines of unprecedented power, largely escaping state control and traditional regulation. In Morocco, this shift is now tangible. Since 11 June 2026, a new chapter has opened: the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI) has launched its platform for taxing digital services, ending years of waiting and fiscal uncertainty.

The idea that virtual activity can generate tangible economic value was once considered abstract. Nobel laureate Paul Romer, however, laid the theoretical foundation for this evolution: technical progress is not accidental, he argued, but the result of rational economic calculation, itself produced by economic activity. Social networks, born in major research hubs like MIT, Harvard and Silicon Valley, perfectly embody this dynamic. They were not created by chance; they were designed, funded and deployed because actors saw profitability in them.

Figures reveal the scale of the phenomenon. More than 36.5% of all time spent on the internet is now devoted to social networks. Nearly half of users (48.6%) use them to stay in touch with loved ones, while 37.3% use them to pass the time and 34.6% to get informed. Behind these social uses lies an advertising windfall that accounts for about 85% of these platforms’ revenues, and it continues to grow.

Companies, both large and small, have understood the value of this showcase. Globally, 90% of businesses using social networks report gaining benefits from them. The influencer marketing market alone was worth $16.4 billion in 2022, twenty times its 2015 value. This surge is driven by influencers whose engagement rate reaches 96%, far higher than that of content published directly by brands.

Morocco is not on the sidelines of this revolution. With 23.8 million social media users—63.4% of the total population—the kingdom represents a substantial potential market. In January 2022, YouTube had about 21.5 million users, Facebook Messenger 8.35 million, and TikTok 5.97 million users aged 18 and older. These numbers are not mere statistics: they represent communities, audiences, and fan bases that are, for new internet entrepreneurs, true mines of potential customers. As Mohcine Benachir, CEO of Prestige Informatique, notes, “today we are increasingly facing a digital economy that has become a real issue in Morocco.” Transactions conducted through social networks and their platforms have become an unavoidable economic reality. Any company seeking to grow must be present there, as these spaces have become essential channels for communication and commerce.

Investments in digital advertising confirm this trend. According to the Digital Trends Morocco 2024 study, the digital budget now represents nearly 17% of companies’ marketing budgets. Social media ad purchases are the primary tools used, and the market is moving less and less toward outsourcing. Yet—and here lies the rub—this financial windfall largely escapes the national economy.

The fiscal paradox: giants that pay no taxes

The observation is stark. Local news websites are being crushed by tech giants—Facebook and Google first—that dominate the online advertising market. Together, they share between 60% and 70% of the market. In 2022 alone, Google posted a net profit of $60 billion, generated mainly from online advertising. Yet neither Google nor Facebook pays taxes in Morocco.

“Social networks are indeed virtual in terms of access, but they are also a real economy,” a source explains. The problem, he continues, is that “these digital mastodons are not established in Morocco, so we have no control or leverage, we cannot negotiate with them.” When a Moroccan company wants to advertise, it pays Meta in foreign currency. That currency, once it leaves the kingdom, does not return. This is a fiscal and monetary black hole with far from negligible consequences. In 2018, a special commission of the DGI and the Exchange Office had already examined the taxation of Gafam advertising revenues in Morocco.

Since then, there had been a stalemate. Local players called for awareness. Mounir Jazouli, former president of the GAM, had already warned about the need for local publishers to pool their strength to face the Gafam. “One of the challenges is mainly to offer Moroccan advertisers high-performance technological platforms and services that can compete with those of the Gafam,” he explained. He also mentioned the need to reinvent business models, for example by requiring users to watch a video ad before reading an article.

The June 2026 turning point: VAT on digital services

This fiscal vacuum ended on 11 June 2026. That day, the DGI launched its platform “Taxation on digital services,” accessible via the SIMPL portal. Concretely, foreign providers of digital services—Netflix, Spotify, Google, Meta, Airbnb, Uber and many others—must now declare their turnover generated in Morocco and pay the corresponding VAT. This mechanism, provided for by Article 28 of Decree No. 2-25-862 published in the Official Bulletin in December 2025, imposes several obligations. Affected providers must first register on the platform to obtain a tax identification number. They must then submit a quarterly declaration of turnover achieved in Morocco, by the end of the first month of each quarter. Finally, they must keep a detailed register of services provided, which may be inspected by the tax authorities.

The DGI has made a guide available to assist operators in this new procedure. But beyond the technical aspect, this is a strong political and economic signal. Morocco thus joins about thirty countries that have chosen to tax digital giants, often following OECD recommendations. And this is not a small detail: in 2022, a World Bank report estimated that full digitalization of the economy in the MENA region could increase GDP per capita by at least 46% over thirty years, a gain estimated at $1.6 trillion. The same report noted that frictional unemployment could drop from 10% to 7% over six years. Ouassim Driouchi, Telecoms and Innovation partner at BearingPoint, explains: “The entry into force of VAT on foreign digital services (Decree 2.25.862) is not a Moroccan exception, but a healthy and inevitable convergence toward OECD standards (BEPS plan) and practices already in force in the European Union (OSS one-stop shop) or South Africa. Beyond the tax revenue (estimated between 500 million and 1 billion dirhams), the real issue is correcting a historic competitive asymmetry. For years, Moroccan startups, local media and digital service providers have been taxed from the first dirham of turnover, facing internet giants that de facto enjoyed a 20% competitive advantage. This reform is essential to protect local innovation and level the economic playing field in the Moroccan market.”

Stakes: sovereignty, foreign currency and business models

But taxing the Gafam is not just about fiscal revenue. It touches on issues of economic sovereignty and development models. As our source reminds us, “it is important to be able to negotiate not only over data but also over the economic model that lies beneath.” Behind online advertising lie data, algorithms and consumption habits that escape national regulators. The entry of national players, beyond market balance, will also help stop foreign currency purchases made on digital platforms. Today, every dirham spent on advertising on Facebook or Google represents a capital outflow that does not generate local wealth. By imposing VAT and requiring declarations, Morocco gives itself the means to repatriate part of that added value.

“The risk is that the law remains inoperative without cutting-edge technological infrastructure. To geolocate consumption, it is necessary to cross-reference, in real time and securely, multiple data sources (IP addresses, +212 telephone prefixes, bank BINs). This decree is therefore a great opportunity for the state to lay the groundwork for a ‘4.0’ tax administration, capable of auditing invisible value flows through advanced data analysis and interoperability with banking and telecom ecosystems,” warns Ouassim Driouchi. Still, the road is long. Digital giants have the legal and financial means to contest these new rules. And the DGI platform, no matter how sophisticated, will not alone solve the structural imbalance between local players with limited resources and global behemoths. As Mounir Jazouli pointed out, Moroccan publishers must urgently pool their forces to form a real counterweight to the Gafam.