The three weeks of demonstrations and strikes finally led to an agreement between lawyers and the government on the tax provisions provided for in the Finance Bill 2023 (PLF), in particular the levy of income tax on the source. The black togas resume their function this Wednesday.
Following the emergency meeting, held this Tuesday, November 15 at the headquarters of the Moroccan Bar Association (ABAM) in Rabat, between the body of lawyers, the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, the Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi and the Minister Delegate in charge of the Budget, Fouzi Lekjaâ, to address the subject of the new tax requirements of the PLF 2023, a compromise was approved after two hours of discussions and exchange of views, confirms the press release from the ‘ABAM.
According to the document, the agreement on the tax file includes a reduction in the amount fixed by the PLF and adopted in the House of Representatives of advances on IR to be paid on each file filed in court, which will go from 300 DH to 100 DH payable optionally by one of the agreed methods, exemption of lawyers newly registered with the bar from income tax for a period of 5 years from the date of registration, and exclusion of files of a social nature from the field tax with broadening of the scope of files of this nature.
The concession includes, in particular, a reduction in the rate of withholding tax on income tax to 10% instead of 15% for individual lawyers and to 5% instead of 10% for professional civil law firms as well as the constitution of a technical commission between the association and the government to study the other points of the tax file of the profession.
Following this agreement reached between the parties, the Moroccan Bar Association calls on all lawyers to resume their activities in the courts from this Wednesday, November 16 and thus end the strike.