Offshoring in Morocco 2026: Tax Exemption, IAZ, CFC, Set-Up

Key takeaways: Offshoring in Morocco — now officially called service outsourcing — gives access to a full corporate income tax exemption for 5 years, followed by a reduced 20% rate. Turnover from exported services invoiced in foreign currency is exempt from VAT with a right to deduct, so input VAT can be refunded. The exemption is not automatic: the activity must fall within one of five segments (CRM, BPO, ITO, ESO, KPO) and the company must have real substance, with employees in Morocco. Three routes lead to the same mechanics — the offshoring regime, the Industrial Acceleration Zone (IAZ) and Casablanca Finance City (CFC) status — and they cannot be combined. A foreign company can own 100% of its Moroccan subsidiary.

Why Morocco for offshoring and nearshoring

For a European company, outsourcing to Morocco is first a matter of proximity. The country sits a short flight from the main European capitals, and its working hours fall within an hour of Central European Time. Teams in Casablanca or Rabat work the same day, in the same hours, as their clients in Paris, Madrid or Brussels.

The second argument is language. The Moroccan workforce operates in French, English, Spanish and Arabic, which makes Morocco a natural base for multilingual customer support, back-office processing and IT services serving Europe and beyond.

The third is infrastructure. The State has developed dedicated offshoring platforms (Integrated Industrial Platforms, or P2I Offshoring) reserved for outsourcing activities, located near major urban centres, with a one-stop shop and a flexible real-estate offering. The main ones are:

• Casanearshore (Casablanca);
• Rabat Technopolis (Rabat);
• Fès Shore (Fès);
• Tétouan Shore (Tétouan);
• Oujda Shore (Oujda).

Setting up on a platform is requested from the platform operator, supported by an investment file.

The decisive lever, however, is the tax regime. A service centre that meets the conditions pays no corporate income tax for five years, then a capped 20% rate, and exports its services free of VAT. The rest of this guide explains how that regime works and what it takes to qualify.

Offshoring, outsourcing, IAZ: the vocabulary

The terms have changed; the benefits have not. The legislator replaced “free zone” with “Industrial Acceleration Zone” (IAZ) and is gradually substituting “service outsourcing” for the word “offshoring”, for reasons of international tax compliance (removal from grey lists).

In everyday language, investors still speak of an offshore company, offshoring or nearshoring. In a Moroccan context these words describe the same thing: a Moroccan-resident company that performs services for clients located abroad. For the strategic side — choosing between nearshore and offshore models, and what to outsource — see our guide to nearshoring and outsourcing strategies.

One point matters for foreign groups: a Moroccan offshoring company is not an offshore company in the tax-haven sense. It is a fully taxable Moroccan entity that benefits from a targeted incentive regime, provided it has real operations in Morocco.

The offshoring tax regime (Article 6 CGI)

Under Article 6 of the General Tax Code (CGI), service outsourcing companies benefit from:

• a full corporate income tax (CIT) exemption for the first 5 financial years of activity;
• a reduced 20% rate from the sixth year onwards;
• no exposure to the 35% bracket: the 35% rate that applies to net profits of 100 M MAD or more does not apply to this regime;
• a VAT exemption with right to deduct on turnover generated through exports in foreign currency.

The regime applies whether the company is located inside or outside a P2I Offshoring platform. Setting up on a platform brings infrastructure and a one-stop shop, but it is not a condition of the tax benefit.

To see how the 20% rate compares with the standard schedule once the exemption period ends, use our CIT rate calculator. All CIT exemptions available in Morocco are compared in our guide to CIT exemptions in Morocco.

Eligibility: activity and substance

This is the point many project owners overlook: the exemption is not granted across the board. Two cumulative conditions apply:

• Nature of the activity: it must fall within the scope of service offshoring;
• Effectiveness (substance): the company must genuinely operate in Morocco and employ staff there. A mailbox is not enough.

Eligible activities are defined by Circular 5/2016 and fall into five segments:

In practice, a call centre, a shared services centre handling a group’s accounting or payroll, a software development hub or an engineering design office can all fit within these segments, provided the services are exported and delivered by staff based in Morocco.

Offshoring, IAZ or CFC: which route?

Three distinct regimes lead to the same mechanics — a 5-year CIT exemption then 20% — but on different eligibility criteria. They cannot be combined: the company must opt for the one that fits its activity and footprint best.

The offshoring regime is tied to what the company does. The IAZ regime is tied to where it is located. CFC status targets internationally oriented financial and professional services and regional headquarters. A pure service centre (CRM, BPO, ITO) will usually look first at the offshoring regime; a group setting up a regional hub may compare it with CFC status.

VAT on exported services and VAT refunds

Services used abroad — the core of offshoring — are exempt from VAT with right to deduct under Art. 92-I-1° CGI. The company invoices its foreign clients without VAT but still recovers the VAT paid on its own purchases.

This mechanism generally produces a VAT credit, which the company can have refunded: Art. 103-1° provides for a refund application filed quarterly. The procedure is detailed in our guide to VAT credit refunds in Morocco.

Two further measures reduce the cash cost of VAT:

• Capital goods: during the 36 months following the start of activity, the company may purchase VAT-free the capital goods recorded as fixed assets (Art. 92-I-6°).
• VAT suspension: purchasing, under suspension of VAT, the goods and services needed for the exported services (Art. 94-II) is reserved for service-exporting companies categorised by the tax administration, within the limit of the previous year’s export turnover.

For the conditions attached to the export of services — including what counts as a service “used abroad” — see our article on VAT on exported services in Morocco.

Dividends, repatriation and group structuring

When the Moroccan subsidiary distributes profits, dividends paid to its shareholder (Moroccan or foreign) are subject to a withholding tax of 11.25% in 2026, falling to 10% from 2027. The applicable rates are summarised in our page on withholding tax on dividends. Morocco’s tax treaties may reduce this withholding further, depending on the parent company’s country of residence.

Repatriation is governed by exchange control rules. An investment funded in foreign currency and declared to the Foreign Exchange Office (Office des Changes) benefits from the convertibility regime, which guarantees the transfer of dividends and of disposal proceeds, after withholding tax. The practical rules are set out in our guide to Moroccan exchange regulations.

Transfer pricing. Most offshoring subsidiaries invoice their services to their own parent company or to other group entities. These intra-group service fees must be set at arm’s length, as they would be between independent parties, and documented accordingly. See our guide to transfer pricing in Morocco.

Permanent establishment risk. The parent company should also make sure its own activity in Morocco does not go beyond its role as shareholder and client. Otherwise, the parent itself could be treated as having a taxable presence in Morocco. The criteria are explained in our article on permanent establishments in Morocco.

Setting up the Moroccan entity

The first step to benefit from the regime is to set up a company in Morocco. The SARL — the Moroccan equivalent of a limited liability company (LLC) — is the usual vehicle:

• 1 to 50 partners, including a single-partner SARL (SARL AU);
• no legal minimum share capital;
• liability limited to contributions;
• blocking of the capital at the bank is required only if capital exceeds 100,000 DH.

Moroccan law makes no distinction between Moroccan and foreign investors. A foreign company or individual can hold 100% of the capital with no local partner, and a non-resident needs no residence permit — a valid passport is sufficient.

Incorporation can be carried out remotely by a non-resident who appoints an authorised professional; electronic signatures are legally recognised. The one exception is the bank account: the manager, or the company’s legal representative, must attend the bank in person (Bank Al-Maghrib Circular No. 15/W/16). The specific steps for foreign founders are covered in our guide to setting up a company in Morocco as a non-resident.

The process follows 8 steps, whatever the legal form:

1. Reserve the company name (negative certificate from OMPIC);
2. Secure the registered office (commercial lease, domiciliation agreement or owned premises);
3. Draft the articles of association;
4. Deposit the share capital at the bank;
5. Register the incorporation deeds with the tax administration;
6. Obtain the tax identifiers and register with the trade register;
7. Publish the legal notices;
8. Register with the CNSS (social security) and AMO (mandatory health insurance).

With a complete file, the whole process takes 2 to 3 working weeks, as several steps can run in parallel. An incomplete file or errors in the articles of association lead to rejections and delays. Formalities are generally handled through a company incorporation assistance engagement. The official public costs are itemised in our article on the cost of setting up an SARL in Morocco in 2026.

The 2025–2030 “Offre Offshoring Maroc”: capped IR, IS contribution, hiring grants

Head of Government Circular No. 15/2025 of 21 November 2025 sets out the “Offre Offshoring Maroc”. It applies from 1 July 2025 (from the 2025 financial year) and ends on 31 December 2030. Its four measures are State budget contributions and grants, not provisions of the CGI: they sit alongside the Article 6 regime (5-year CIT exemption then 20%), covered in our guide to CIT exemptions in Morocco, and do not change its rates.

Location decides which measures apply. A company inside an Integrated Industrial Platform (P2I) gets all four measures, plus the platform’s infrastructure and one-stop shop. Outside a P2I but in a region that has one (an ordinary office in Casablanca or Rabat, for example), only the PAE and PAF are available. In regions with no P2I Offshoring, all four measures apply. Five platforms operate today (Casanearshore, Rabat Technopolis, Fès Shore, Oujda Shore, Tétouan Shore), with four more planned.

Files are lodged with the Government Authority in charge of Digital Transition (AGCTN) between 31 March and 31 May of year N+1 and approved by the Offshoring Technical Committee (CTO); payment is made within 60 working days of a complete file. None of the measures can be combined with other State investment-support schemes.

Because the AIS is computed on the IS actually applied, it yields nothing during the five-year exemption: it matters from the year the 20% rate starts, when the State refunds 56% of that 20% on export profits.

Payroll costs and social incentives

Payroll is the main cost of a service centre. Beyond the tax regime, several schemes reduce employment costs:

• ANAPEC training financing: the national employment agency can fund training up to 70%.
• Insertion contracts: exemption from CNSS and income tax (IR) charges on salaries up to 6,000 DH/month.
• TAHFIZ programme: IR exemption on gross salary capped at 10,000 DH, and coverage of the employer’s CNSS contribution, for a maximum of 10 employees over 24 months.

The Offre Offshoring grants do not stack with these schemes: the PAF cannot be combined with ANAPEC employability programmes, and the PAE cannot be combined with other State employment grants.

Recruitment itself follows Moroccan labour law: the forms of employment contracts in Morocco and their conditions apply to offshoring companies like any other employer. The social charges due on salaries outside these schemes are detailed in our guide to CNSS contributions in 2026. Some groups also choose to outsource payroll in Morocco during the ramp-up phase.

Five mistakes that lose the exemption

The regime is generous, but each of its conditions can be failed. The five most common mistakes follow directly from them.

1. A mailbox company without staff. Substance is a condition, not a formality. A company that invoices services but employs no one in Morocco does not meet the effectiveness condition, whatever its articles of association say.

2. An activity outside the five segments. The exemption covers CRM, BPO, ITO, ESO and KPO activities as defined by Circular 5/2016. A service that does not fall within one of these segments does not qualify under the offshoring regime.

3. Turnover invoiced in dirhams to Moroccan clients. The benefits attach to export turnover in foreign currency. Services invoiced in dirhams to clients in Morocco fall outside the export logic of the regime, and the VAT exemption covers only services used abroad.

4. Trying to stack regimes. The offshoring regime, the IAZ regime and CFC status cannot be combined. Structuring a project on the assumption that benefits will add up leads to a flawed business plan.

5. Ignoring substance documentation. Because eligibility depends on real activity in Morocco, the company should be able to demonstrate it: employees on the payroll, CNSS registration, premises and the actual delivery of services from Morocco. A company that cannot evidence its substance weakens its position in the event of a tax audit.

Read also

• CIT exemptions in Morocco: IAZ, CFC and startups
• Setting up a company in Morocco as a non-resident
• Casablanca Finance City (CFC): status and benefits