Any foreigner legally resident in Morocco and legally holding a foreign employment contract (i.e. validated by the Ministry of Labour) may transfer up to 100% of their nеt rеmunеrаtіоn after tax each month to a foreign currency or convertible dirham account, which they may use freely.
How does it work? Your salary is paid into your normal non-convertible dirham account (a company is not allowed to transfer salaries directly into a convertible or foreign currency account).
You then ask your bank to transfer all or part of this amount to the account of your choice (which may even be a foreign account).
Who can benefit from salary savings?
- Foreigners residing in Morocco
- MREs MRE recruited by a Moroccan company
- MREs recruited by a foreign company or on secondment status
(we see, incidentally, that the Office des Changes is the second Moroccan legal entity to recognise the concept of secondment, after its mention in the social security agreement).
Documents to be provided to the bank for the transfer of salary savings
The documents required by the Office des Changes, and therefore by your bank, are :
- a copy of your foreign employment contract approved by the Ministry of Labour (or, for a maximum period of six months, the certificate of submission of the application for authorisation)
- a salary statement from your employer showing the nеt mоnthlу аmоunt of your salary, together with social security and tax deductions.
Once you have submitted these documents, you can ask your bank to transfer your salary to a “convertible” account.
The bank will usually also ask for a copy of your payslip. In any case, this is necessary if you receive a one-off payment in excess of the amount shown on your salary statement (bonuses, etc.).
Tourism allowances or savings on salaries
Please note that since the change in the processing of tourist allowances for foreigners, you have to choose between a tourist allowance and salary savings.
When you open your tourist allowance each year, your bank will ask you to sign a certificate stating that you have no other sources of foreign currency in Morocco: convertible account or salary savings.
The basic amount of the tourist allowance is 100,000 dirhams.
This can be increased according to your income tax paid in the previous year, up to a total of 300,000 dirhams.
So, from the second year onwards, you can choose the solution that offers you the most foreign currency.
What do you do if you don’t have a foreign employment contract?
The salary savings mechanism extends to other “earned” income:
- pensions received in Morocco (but this means you lose the benefit of the second tax allowance)
- income from Entreprise individuelle and sole traders (individuals)
- and, although we wouldn’t wish it on you, redundancy payments.
However, there is no mechanism for managers of SARLs with sole partners, who cannot have a foreign employment contract.
“Incomes from work” that cannot be transferred
The Office des Changes gives a rеѕtrісtіѵе lіѕt оf іnсоmе that can be transferred.
Consequently, all other income cannot be converted, including daily sick pay, whether paid by the CNSS or another insurance company. Even if this is an income that is supposed to ‘replace’ a salary.
Similarly, unemployment benefits cannot be transferred under this measure, unlike redundancy payments.
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