Moroccan tax authorities have referred dozens of cases involving fake invoices to the public prosecutor’s office, following investigations by the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI).
These cases revealed a network of accountants and company managers selling fraudulent invoices to other firms in exchange for commissions ranging from 2% to 3%.
The scheme allowed buyers to inflate declared expenses and reduce their tax liabilities. Many cases were concentrated in Casablanca and uncovered during broad tax audits targeting small and medium-sized enterprises.
One notable example involved a car parts distributor owing 10 million dirhams in unpaid taxes.
Routine audits revealed undeclared transactions and high-value discrepancies in VAT and corporate tax filings covering up to four years. Through advanced data-matching systems, inspectors detected fake invoices submitted by multiple companies, often linked by suspicious bank payments or promissory notes despite no actual commercial transactions. Further analysis confirmed these were forged documents used to evade taxes.
Officials cited articles 192 and 231 of Morocco’s tax code to initiate criminal proceedings. The tax department’s growing digital capabilities and real-time data-sharing between tax offices nationwide played a key role in detecting these schemes.
New enforcement measures introduced in recent finance laws now allow for joint liability of both company managers and partners in tax fraud involving fake invoices, especially concerning VAT payments.
According to recent statements by Younes Idrissi Kaitouni, Director General of Taxes, the fake invoice market in Morocco is alarmingly large.
He noted that around 300,000 dormant companies are suspected of existing solely to issue such documents, with the total value estimated at 60 billion dirhams.
Kaitouni emphasized that combating this widespread fraud requires collective responsibility, including from formal businesses interacting with the informal sector.
Tax inspectors have become adept at spotting forged documents by analyzing formatting details, such as invoice headers, color schemes, and address layouts, while noting that many offending entities are under judicial liquidation or operating with expired legal status.
These findings have led to rejected tax deductions and further scrutiny of company filings for VAT, income tax, and corporate tax compliance.
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