“The government is seriously considering imposing a new tax on YouTube,” Mustafa Paytas, the government’s official spokesperson, said at a press conference after the weekly government meeting, adding that “any activity of any kind whatsoever and who has financial income must benefit from a tax contribution. .
He added, in an interview granted to the media on the sidelines of the government council: “These procedures have now begun to be seriously considered, so that appropriate formulas are sought for the promulgation of this tax”, and promised to reveal in detail this issue later, and to identify the target groups of the tax, and the mode of organization of this tax.
The legal status of YouTubers
The minister’s statements left a division among content creators in Morocco, between supporters and apprehensions of this approach. While bloggers like Mustafa Swinga welcomed the imposition of a tax on this group, out of concern for tax justice, others felt it might be unfair to some.
For his part, Amine Raghib, one of the oldest e-content creators in Morocco, called this step ambiguous, given that influencers were not involved in this decision. He insisted on the need to listen to this category in order to know how it works, because some things are often misunderstood.
Content creation costs
Ragheeb added, in a statement to Sky News Arabia, that not all content creators’ earnings are net profits, as some of them have become professionals and employ a full team in the preparation, design, delivery. lighting and studio management, which are costs that weigh down this category and increase its burden.
The owner of the “Professional” blog wondered about the possibility of setting up this procedure, in the absence of a legal status governing content creators in Morocco. In this regard, he called for developing a clear vision of the status of the content creator in order to allow him to benefit from a set of privileges that preserve his dignity, and in return, to collect the taxes due in full transparency.
Improve transparency
In interaction with the question, the economist Rachid Sari considered that the objective of the government taking this step is not purely financial, but rather to legalize this still unstructured sector in Morocco. The most important thing, according to the university professor, is to shed light on the income of this group and to count their resources, in order to avoid money laundering and to thwart suspicious activities.
He continued, in an interview with “Sky News Arabia”, that Morocco has made great progress in this regard, and its efforts have resulted in getting out of the gray list linked to terrorist financing and money laundering.
This means that this government approach can be considered strategic, as the primary objective of imposing a tax on content creators goes in this direction, and it will also help to strengthen tax justice.
It should be noted that Moroccan press articles have recently mentioned the start of the General Directorate of Taxes, responsible for notifying Moroccan celebrities on social networking sites, including “YouTube”, in order to reveal their income and pay their taxes. .
According to initial estimates for the past three years, the amount of money requested from the tax authorities is around 45 million dirhams, or the equivalent of 4.5 million dollars.
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