Self-Entrepreneur Status Adopted by Deputies

• The bill aims to reduce the weight of the informal economy
• It will be transferred to the House of Councilors

The bill defining the self-entrepreneur status has passed the House of Representatives. Planned by the 2014 Finance Act, the implementation of this status has been delayed. Regardless, this bill, which will then be transferred to the House of Councilors, aims to reduce the weight of the informal economy, as indicated by the Minister Delegate, Mamoun Bouhdoud, before the Finance Committee of the first Chamber. According to the latest statistics from the HCP, 1.75 million units operate in the informal sector, of which 1.3 are sole proprietorships. The aim of this bill is also to "develop the entrepreneurial spirit" to promote job creation.
To encourage a return to legality, the bill grants self-entrepreneurs a specific tax regime, as provided for by the 2014 Finance Act. This includes a tax rate not exceeding 1% of the collected turnover for commercial, industrial or craft activities. This rate is set at 2% for self-entrepreneurs offering services.
Better yet, the self-entrepreneur does not risk having their main residence mortgaged in case of non-repayment of debts. Similarly, the bill does not require them to keep accounts or register with the trade register. This operator will, however, have to register with the national self-entrepreneur register which will be set up for this purpose. Knowing that the project uses Barid Al Maghrib for receiving registration requests and for collecting taxes. The choice of Poste Maroc is explained by its territorial coverage, estimated at 1,800 agencies. Moreover, Barid Al Maghrib is required to install a reception and guidance counter for self-entrepreneurs in each of its agencies and to set up a dedicated electronic platform, among other things, for monitoring turnover declarations and registration, re-registration or deregistration operations.
In addition to benefiting from a rather attractive tax rate, self-entrepreneurs will also be entitled to social security coverage, as provided for in Article 2 of the bill. This will be set by a regulatory text. But "we will have to wait for the completion of a study by the Ministry of Health on the extension of medical coverage", he stressed.

Turnover
The bill defines a self-entrepreneur as any person carrying out an independent activity whose annual turnover does not exceed 200,000 DH for services and 500,000 DH for commercial, industrial and craft activities. The operator risks having their company name removed from the register if they do not declare the annual turnover achieved. The same applies if they declare zero turnover or exceed one of the thresholds set by the bill (200,000 and 500,000 DH) for two consecutive years.

Hajar BENEZHA.

Leconomiste.com

Published on December 8, 2014.

Posted online on December 9, 2014.