Social media platforms and digital services have become an integral part of everyday life. Meta, X, Instagram, TikTok, Netflix, Spotify, and Airbnb are no longer just entertainment or social connection tools. They are powerful economic machines whose inner workings largely escape national regulations. In Morocco, this shift is now undeniable. Since June 11, 2026, a new era has begun: the General Directorate of Taxes launched its digital services taxation platform, ending years of fiscal uncertainty.
The idea that virtual activities generate real economic value was once considered abstract. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Romer, however, laid the theoretical groundwork: technological progress is not accidental. It results from rational economic calculation driven by economic activity itself. Social networks, born in major research hubs like MIT, Harvard, and Silicon Valley, exemplify this dynamic. They were designed, funded, and deployed because investors saw profitability.
Statistics illustrate the scale of the phenomenon. According to an analysis by BDM, a specialist platform for social media analytics, over 36.5% of total internet time is now spent on social networks. Nearly half of users stay in touch with loved ones (48.6%), while a third pass the time (37.3%) or seek information (34.6%). Behind these social uses lies an advertising goldmine that generates approximately 85% of these platforms’ revenue, and it continues to grow.
Companies of all sizes have recognized the value of this showcase. Globally, 90% of businesses using social media report benefits. The influencer marketing market was worth $16.4 billion in 2022, twenty times more than in 2015. This surge is driven by influencers whose engagement rate reaches 96%, far exceeding that of brand-published content.
Morocco is no exception to this revolution. With 23.8 million social media users, representing 63.4% of the population, the country represents a significant potential market. In January 2022, YouTube had approximately 21.5 million users, Facebook Messenger 8.35 million, and TikTok 5.97 million users aged 18 and over. These numbers are not mere statistics; they represent communities, audiences, and fan bases that serve as goldmines of potential customers for new internet entrepreneurs. As Mohcine Benachir, CEO of Prestige Informatique, points out, “we are increasingly facing a digital economy that is becoming a real issue in Morocco.” Transactions conducted through social networks and their platforms are becoming an undeniable economic reality. Any company seeking growth must be present on these spaces, as they have become essential communication and sales channels.
Investments in digital advertising confirm this trend. According to the Digital Trends Morocco 2024 study, the digital budget now accounts for nearly 17% of companies’ marketing budgets. Social media ad purchases are the primary tools used, and the market is moving away from outsourcing. Yet, here lies the problem: this financial windfall largely escapes the national economy.
The fiscal paradox: giants that pay no taxes
The reality is stark. Local news sites are stifled by tech giants – Facebook and Google leading the charge – who dominate the online advertising market. They share between 60% and 70% of the market. In 2022 alone, Google posted a net profit of $60 billion, primarily from online advertising. Yet neither Google nor Facebook pays taxes in Morocco.
“Social networks are indeed virtual in terms of access, but they also represent a real economy,” a source explained. The problem, they continued, is that “these digital mammoths are not based in Morocco, so we lack control and cannot negotiate with them.” When a Moroccan company wants to advertise, it pays Meta… in foreign currency. Once that currency leaves the country, it never returns. This is a fiscal and monetary black hole with significant consequences. In 2018, a special commission from the General Directorate of Taxes and the Exchange Office already examined the taxation of GAFAM advertising revenues in Morocco.
Since then, the situation remained stagnant. Local actors called for awareness. Mounir Jazouli, former president of GAM, previously warned about the need for local publishers to join forces against the GAFAM. “One of the challenges is to offer Moroccan advertisers high-performing technological platforms and services that can compete with those of the GAFAM,” he explained. He also mentioned the need to reinvent business models, for example by conditioning article reading on watching a promotional video.
The turning point of June 2026: VAT on digital services
This fiscal vacuum ended on June 11, 2026. On that day, the DGI launched its platform “Taxation on digital services,” accessible via the SIMPL portal. Concretely, foreign providers of digital services – Netflix, Spotify, Google, Meta, Airbnb, Uber, and many others – must now declare their turnover realized in Morocco and pay the corresponding VAT. This mechanism, provided for by Article 28 of Decree No. 2-25-862 published in the Official Bulletin in December 2025, imposes several obligations. Affected providers must first register on the platform to obtain a tax identification number. They must then submit a quarterly declaration of turnover realized in Morocco by the end of the first month of each quarter. Finally, they must maintain a detailed register of services provided, subject to inspection by the tax administration.
The DGI has published a guide to assist operators with this new procedure. Beyond the technical aspects, this is a strong political and economic signal. Morocco thus joins around thirty countries that have chosen to tax digital giants, often based on OECD recommendations. This is significant: in 2022, a World Bank report estimated that full digitization of the economy in the MENA region could lead to a per capita GDP increase of at least 46% over thirty years, equivalent to an estimated gain of $1.6 trillion. The same report indicated that frictional unemployment could drop from 10% to 7% over six years. Ouassim Driouchi, Telecoms and Innovation partner at BearingPoint, commented: “The entry into force of VAT on foreign digital services (Decree 2.25.862) is not a Moroccan exception but a healthy and inevitable convergence towards OECD standards (BEPS plan) and practices already in place in the European Union (OSS one-stop shop) or South Africa.”
“Beyond the fiscal revenue (estimated between 500 million and 1 billion dirhams), the real issue is correcting a historical competitive asymmetry. For years, Moroccan startups, local media, and digital service providers have been taxed from the first dirham of turnover, facing tech giants that de facto enjoyed a 20% competitive advantage. This reform is essential to protect local innovation and clean up economic competition in the Moroccan market.”
Issues: sovereignty, currency, and business model
Taxing the GAFAM is not just about fiscal revenue. It touches on issues of economic sovereignty and development model. As our source noted, “it is important to be able to discuss not only data but also the submarine business model.” Behind online advertising lie data, algorithms, and consumer habits that escape national regulators. The involvement of national actors, beyond market balance, will also help stop currency purchases on digital platforms. Today, every dirham spent on Facebook or Google advertising is a capital outflow that generates no local wealth. By imposing VAT and requiring declarations, Morocco gains the means to repatriate part of this added value.
“The risk is that the law remains ineffective without cutting-edge technological infrastructure. To geolocate consumption, we need to cross-reference, in real time and securely, multiple data sources (IP addresses, +212 phone prefixes, bank BINs). This decree is therefore a great opportunity for the state to lay the groundwork for a ‘4.0’ tax administration, capable of auditing invisible value flows through advanced data analysis and interoperability with banking and telecom ecosystems,” warns Ouassim Driouchi. Still, the road is long. Tech giants have the legal and financial means to challenge these new rules. And the DGI platform, however advanced, will not alone resolve the structural imbalance between resource-limited local actors and global mammoths. As Mounir Jazouli noted, Moroccan publishers must urgently pool their strengths to become a credible counterweight to the GAFAM.
