How commune-level tax collection works

How commune-level tax collection works

Local taxation reform

Law No. 14.25 (2025) amends the 2008 framework law on local taxation (Law 47.06). It splits collection by capacity - the professional tax and two commune fees move to the national Tax Administration, a newly created corps of commune tax collectors takes over the rest, and the tax on non-built urban land gets its first rate update since 2008. This page reflects the text adopted by the Chamber of Councillors' Interior Committee (April 2025) - not a substitute for the official texts or for guidance from your commune's own tax collector.

Who does what in local tax collection

Key terms

The roles and taxes you will encounter most often at the commune level.

Commune tax collector (قابض جماعي)

قابض جماعي

A role created by Law 14.25: a collector affiliated with the commune itself, jointly appointed by the Interior and Finance ministries, empowered to run the full forced-collection procedure for the local fees the commune manages directly.

منصب استُحدث بموجب القانون 14.25: قابض تابع للجماعة، يُعيَّن بقرار مشترك بين وزارتي الداخلية والمالية، ويخوَّل صلاحية تنفيذ كامل مسطرة التحصيل الجبري بالنسبة للرسوم المحلية التي تدبرها الجماعة مباشرة.

Authorizing officer (ordonnateur)

الآمر بالصرف

The commune official (typically the council president) who authorizes revenue to be collected and expenditure to be made - distinct from the accountant who actually handles the money.

المسؤول الجماعي (رئيس المجلس عادة) الذي يأذن بتحصيل المداخيل وصرف النفقات، ويختلف عن المحاسب الذي يتصرف فعليا في الأموال.

Professional tax (taxe professionnelle)

الضريبة المهنية

A local tax owed by businesses and professionals operating within the commune. Since Law 14.25, its collection is entrusted to the national Tax Administration.

ضريبة محلية يؤديها أصحاب الأنشطة التجارية والمهنية الممارَسة داخل نفوذ الجماعة. أُسند تحصيلها بموجب القانون 14.25 إلى المديرية العامة للضرائب.

Housing fee (رسم السكن)

رسم السكن

A local fee owed by residents on the property they occupy - legally a "رسم" (fee), not a "ضريبة" (tax). Since Law 14.25, its collection moves to the national Tax Administration.

رسم محلي يؤديه الساكنة على العقارات التي يشغلونها، وهو قانونياً "رسم" لا "ضريبة". نُقل تحصيله بموجب القانون 14.25 إلى المديرية العامة للضرائب.

Communal services fee (رسم الخدمات الجماعية)

رسم الخدمات الجماعية

A local fee that funds services the commune provides, such as lighting, cleaning, and road maintenance. Also moves to the national Tax Administration under Law 14.25.

رسم محلي يمول الخدمات التي تقدمها الجماعة كالإنارة والنظافة وصيانة الطرق، ونُقل تحصيله هو الآخر إلى المديرية العامة للضرائب بموجب القانون 14.25.

Non-built urban land fee

الرسم على الأراضي الحضرية غير المبنية

A fee on undeveloped, serviced urban land, meant to discourage speculation and push owners to build or sell. Law 14.25 revised rates unchanged since 2008 to 15-30 DH/m² in well-equipped zones, 5-15 DH/m² in moderately equipped zones, and 0.5-5 DH/m² in poorly equipped zones.

رسم على الأراضي الحضرية غير المبنية المجهزة، يهدف إلى الحد من المضاربة العقارية ودفع الملاك إلى البناء أو البيع. راجع القانون 14.25 هذه الأسعار الثابتة منذ 2008 لتصبح من 15 إلى 30 درهماً للمتر المربع بالمناطق الجيدة التجهيز، ومن 5 إلى 15 درهماً بالمناطق متوسطة التجهيز، ومن 0.5 إلى 5 دراهم بالمناطق ضعيفة التجهيز.

From zone classification to appeal

The collection cycle

A simplified view of how the reformed system works. Which office collects a given fee, and what a landowner pays, both depend on decisions made at each stage.

Zone classification

The commune council president designates each area as well, moderately, or poorly equipped - valid only after the governor's (wali/'amil) visa. This decision sets the rate a landowner will pay.

Assessment & notice

The tax base and amount owed are set, and the taxpayer is notified - paid immediately via receipt to the commune's own account, or against a bill for state-managed fees.

Collection is split by fee: the national Tax Administration handles the professional tax and the two commune fees; the commune's own tax collectors handle everything else, including the non-built land fee.

Forced collection

If unpaid, the responsible collector is legally empowered to run the full compulsory-collection procedure under Law 15.97.

A taxpayer who disputes an assessment can pursue the official administrative and judicial appeal channels.

What this law actually changes for commune funding

Why it matters

Grounded in the Chamber of Councillors' Interior Committee report (April 2025) - the Minister of Interior's own framing of what this reform is meant to achieve.

Ends a 17-year rate freeze

The non-built land fee hadn't moved since 2008. Committee-adopted rates now reach 15-30 DH/m² in well-equipped zones - real revenue from land whose value has risen for nearly two decades.

Anti-speculation, pro-development

The Minister framed the land fee explicitly as pushing owners to build or sell idle serviced land rather than hoard it - development and a larger tax base, not just collection.

Specialized collection for the big three

The professional tax and two commune fees move to the national Tax Administration "to benefit from the expertise it has accumulated" - the stated goal is less revenue lost to weak collection.

A dedicated collector closes revenue gaps

The committee's own diagnosis: unclear responsibility for uncollected arrears was a real problem. A commune-affiliated collector with forced-collection power is a direct fix.

The situation

What the law gives you

For elected officials

For elected women councilors

Three concrete ways a councilwoman can use this law's actual mechanisms - not hypotheticals, but levers already in the text.

A council vote, not just the president's call

Several councilors pushed back on giving the council president sole authority over tax zones and rates.

A councilwoman can insist on full council deliberation instead - a concrete lever, not just a request.

A stake in zone classification

"Well-equipped" vs "poorly-equipped" status sets what residents pay - and where infrastructure investment follows.

A councilwoman representing an under-serviced area has direct reason to watch that classification closely.

Training the law itself calls for

Committee members unanimously stressed the need for proper training for staff taking on these new duties.

A legitimate basis to ask that women councilors get the same access to fiscal-oversight training.

For local advocates

For civil society organizations

Three concrete entry points for local associations to put this law to work.

A concrete anti-speculation benchmark

Idle, serviced urban land sits untaxed at its real value, and the law itself names this as a problem.

A local CSO has a specific, law-backed reference point for monitoring whether that land is actually being built on or sold.

Ask where the new revenue went

"More commune revenue" has always been a vague, hard-to-verify claim for residents.

Once collection genuinely improves, CSOs can ask for public reporting on revenue collected vs. spent in the same under-equipped zones.

A real institution to explain to residents

Most residents have never heard of a "commune tax collector" or know who to ask about their bill.

A concrete, ready-made hook for civic-education programming on who now collects local taxes and what forced collection means.

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