A recent report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has revealed that Morocco is set to become the second highest country in the world for corporate tax rates by the year 2026, following an increase in its legal corporate tax rate to 35%. This significant hike comes at a time when corporate tax rates in most economies around the globe have remained stable. The report, titled "Corporate Tax Statistics 2026," covers 146 countries and regions, indicating that Morocco raised its corporate tax rate by one percentage point this year, placing it just behind France, which tops the list with a rate of 36.1%. Morocco's new rate is equivalent to that of Colombia and Malta.
The OECD report highlights that Morocco is among only four countries or regions that adjusted their corporate tax rates upward in 2026, alongside South Korea, Lithuania, and San Marino. In contrast, four countries lowered their rates, with Honduras making the most significant cut of five percentage points. Cape Verde and Portugal each reduced their rates by one percentage point, while a majority of 138 countries and regions maintained their existing tax rates.
This development reflects a continued state of stability in global tax policy, as the global average for legal corporate tax rates has remained at 21.2% since 2020. This stability follows a long-term decline that saw the average drop from 28% in 2000 to 21.5% in 2019.
Morocco's corporate tax rate of 35% places the country above various regional and international averages, exceeding the global average by approximately 14 percentage points. It also surpasses the OECD average of 24.2%, the African average of 26.6%, the Latin American and Caribbean average of 21.1%, and the Asia-Pacific average of 20.6%. According to the report's classification, only 25 out of the 146 countries or regions impose a legal corporate tax rate of 30% or more, placing Morocco among less than one-fifth of the nations that apply the highest corporate tax levels globally.
The report also points out a distinction between the situations in France and Morocco, clarifying that France's elevated tax rate is linked to an exceptional and temporary surcharge, whereas there was no indication of any temporary nature associated with Morocco's increase. This suggests that the rise in Morocco's tax rate is a permanent adjustment within the legal framework governing corporate taxation.
On the revenue front, the report estimates that subsidiaries of multinational corporations, whether their parent companies are based in Morocco or abroad, contribute approximately 41% of total corporate tax revenues in the kingdom during 2023, based on a comparison of aggregate national data with the OECD database.
Moreover, the report includes Morocco among 37 African nations selected for regional comparison, noting that the average corporate tax revenue in the continent amounted to 3.3% of GDP and 21.4% of total tax revenues in 2023. This figure exceeds the OECD average of 11.9%, despite the higher tax revenue to GDP ratios in those OECD countries. However, the report does not provide specific data regarding Morocco's actual corporate tax rates or withholding tax rates on cross-border transfers, which had a global average of around 12.2% on dividends, 12.8% on interest, and 14.5% on royalties in 2026.
As reported by lakome2.com.
