What is a tax audit? 

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Each year, taxpayers in Morocco, whether individuals or professionals, are required to file declarations with the tax authorities. If the tax department thinks it is necessary to verify the veracity of certain information provided by taxpayers, then it is able to carry out a tax audit.

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If we most often associate tax controlal to the statementtion of income, it is good to know that it can be set up for any type of tax (income, companies, VAT, inheritance, …).

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Conservation of accounting documents

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Taxpayers as well as natural or legal persons responsible for withholding tax at source are required to keep for ten (10) years at the place where they are taxed, duplicates of sales invoices or receipts. , the supporting documents for expenses and investments, as well as the accounting documents necessary for the tax audit, in particular the books on which the operations were recorded, the general ledger, the inventory book, the detailed inventories if they are not copied in full from this book, the journal and customer and supplier files, as well as any other document provided for by the legislation or regulations in force.

 

In the event of loss of accounting documents for any reason whatsoever, taxpayers must inform the tax inspector, as the case may be, of their habitual residence of the place of their registered office or of their main establishment, by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, within fifteen (15) days following the date on which they noted the said loss.

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Accounting verification: asnt it happening?

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In the event of an accounting audit by the administration in respect of a tax ordetermined tax,the taxpayer is notified of a verification notice, in the forms provided for in article 10 below, at least fifteen (15) days before the date fixed for the verification.

 

The accounting documents are presented in the premises, depending on the case of the habitual residence, the head office or the main establishment of the taxpayers, natural or legal persons concerned, to the agents of the tax administration who verify the sincerity of the accounting entries and the declarations subscribed by the taxpayers and ensure, on the spot, the material existence of the goods appearing in the assets.

 

If the accounts are kept by computer means or if the documents are kept in the form of microfiches, the control covers all the information, data and computer processing which contribute directly or indirectly to the formation of the accounting or tax results and to the preparation of tax declarations, as well as on the documentation relating to the analysis, programming and execution of processing.

 

Under no circumstances can the verification provided for above last:

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• more than six (6) months for companies whose amount of turnover declared in the income and expense account, for the financial years subject to verification, is less than or equal to fifty (50) million dirhams excluding tax on the added value;

• more than twelve (12) months for companies whose amount of turnover declared in the income and expense account, for one of the years subject to verification, is greater than fifty (50) million dirhams excluding tax on added value.

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The suspensions due to the application of the procedure provided for in article 20 below relating to the failure to present accounting documents are not counted in the verification period.

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The inspector is required to inform the taxpayer, in the forms provided for in article 10 below, of the closing date of the audit.

 

The taxpayer has the option of being assisted, within the framework of the accounting audit, by a counsel of his choice.

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At the end of the on-site tax audit, the administration must:

 

• in the event of rectification of the tax bases, initiate the procedure provided for in Articles 11 or 12 below;

• otherwise, notify the taxpayer in the manner provided for in Article 10 below.

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It may subsequently carry out a new examination of the entries already verified without this new examination, even when it concerns other taxes and duties, being able to lead to a modification of the tax bases adopted at the end of the first verification.