Understanding The US Moroccan Tax Treaty

Today we're going to look at the US Moroccan Tax Treaty as it applies to Americans who are getting paid by American entities, but are living in Morocco longterm.

183 Day Rule

Recently, Morocco has stepped up enforcement activities primarily geared to Europeans. A lot of European countries have 183 day rule just like Morocco has a 183 day rule that if you're in a country for more than 183 days, you are taxed in that country. So what people are doing is, French nationals or others are spending 170 days in France, 170 days in Morocco and 25 days in Switzerland and saying, oh, we're not taxed anywhere. The two countries are rightfully cracking down on that, but as part of that, Americans are questioning what their status is with in the Moroccan taxing system.

US Moroccan Tax Treaty

Lets look at the Us Moroccan Tax Treaty. In the US, US taxation is based upon citizenship. We really don't look at residency like most countries do. Morocco looks at residency and their rules for residency are: where's your center of economic activity, who is paying you, are you in the country for 183 days, and lastly are you a habitual resident? This was presented by the Moroccan Department of Treasury at the UN and it talks about where Moroccan income is sourced. In order for Moroccan income to be sourced in Morocco, the services must be: physically performed in Morocco and the activities are carried out through a permanent establishment situated in Morocco.

Americans and Moroccan Residency Rules

This is where most Americans who have US employers do not fall into the Moroccan resident rules. The way tax treaties work is they say, where are you a resident? If you're a resident there, we get to tax to you. You're not a resident in the US because you're not physically in the US a lot. You're not a resident of Morocco because you don't have a center of economic interest in Morocco. So neither one of these is true. Then you go to the tiebreaker rules under article three of the training and then you look at permanent home and if both or neither of that is true, then you go to the next country. Depending on where you fall, that's where you're gonna get taxed. Most Americans would prefer to be taxed in the US. If you're not a resident in the US, not a resident Morocco go to permanent home. My view is that if you have a visa that prevents you from establishing a permanent home in Morocco, you don't have a permanent home in Morocco and you can always come home to America.

Proving Residency and Permanent Home

One of the things you want to make sure is that you have a case already made up in case you're audited by Morocco. The case should prove, yes, I have a permanent home. You can get a certificate of residency from the US internal revenue service, you can have a long-term lease in the US, or you could buy a home in the US. All these things would increase the likelihood that you have a permanent home. Do you have a permanent home neither in the US or Morocco? You go to your center economic vital interests. If you're paycheck and all your economic activity is from the US, that's probably your your residency. If it's tired or neither, then you go to habitual abode or citizenship.

This is a quick overview of the US Morocco tax treaty. If you would like to know how it applies to you and how you can prepare for potential audit, please book an appointment and we can discuss your situation. 

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