Morocco

Registering Property in

Morocco

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: MAD 1,172,895.16
  • City: Casablanca

About This Topic

To see indicator data for all economies, see the Registering Property page. To see how economies rank, see the Rankings page.

No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Complete due diligence

The notary must
• ensure that the selling company is not in a state of insolvency, liquidation or receivership. A clause should be inserted in the deed of assignment on the subject. The notary will verify whether or not there is an open file for the selling company file with the Land registry (Conservation fonciere) where the property is located. If one already exists, the notary will verify that all relevant information is accurate and where applicable, update it with the information that both Managers have the power of their respective Board to sell or buy the property at a definite cost and that their tenure as manager is still valid.
• that the selling SARL is the owner and the property is not encumbered.


Agency: Land Registry ("Conservation Foncière") 		1 day MAD 75
2 Obtain the final Tax Clearance from the Regional Tax Authority

Once the document has been obtained from the Direction des Impots de Casablanca, this document must be delivered once again to the Percepteur to obtain the final tax clearance certificate "Quitus Fiscal" showing that the seller has cleared all taxes.

Agency: Regional General Tax Authority 		1 day no official cost
3 Obtain an "Attestation Fiscale" from Regional General Tax Authority

The pre-sale agreement (Promesse de vente) is delivered to the “Percepteur” to obtain an Attestation Fiscal from the tax collection authority (la Perception), showing whether there are outstanding taxes.
As of 2007, taxes from several authorities must be cleared before the transfer takes place and it is the responsibility of the notary to assure that the money for the transaction is sufficient to cover any unpaid taxes. The “Attestation Fiscale” is mandatory by law (Article 139 du Code General des impôts).


Agency: Regional General Tax Authority 		15 days no official cost
4 Obtain Tax clearance certificate from Municipal Tax Authority (Urban Tax )

As of 2007, taxes from several authorities must be cleared before the transfer takes place and it is the responsibility of the notary to assure that the money for the transaction is sufficient to cover any unpaid taxes.

Agency: Municipal Tax Authority 		2 days no official cost
5 Obtain Tax clearance certificate showing that the Council or Local Tax ("taxe d'edibilite") has been paid

A tax clearance must be obtained showing that the seller has paid his "taxe d'edilité". The calculation of the supplementary urban tax is based on the rental value of the property. The rate is as follows:
10% if the property is located in the urban districts
6% if the property is located outside the urban districts.



Agency: Council 		7 days no official cost
6 The sale contract is signed by both parties and authenticated by the notary

The signatures of the parties in the sales deed are only certified by the public notary if a notarial deed is established. Since January 2011, the stamp duty is paid directly at the Land registry. It is no longer necessary to purchase the stamps and stamp each page as previously required. The deed can be prepared by the parties, in some cases assisted by their lawyers. At this point the parties will usually pay all fees and taxes to the notary, who will then pay all taxes and fees to the authorities on behalf of the parties.
The documentation shall include:
- the sales agreement signed by the parties
- ID cards of each party; if the parties’ signatures are filed with the local authorities, only a certified copy of their ID cards and the date and number under which the deed was filed will be required.
10% VAT on notary fees.
1 day 0.5% to 1% of the transaction value (notary fees) + 600 dirhams in stamps (20 dirhams per page, 5 pages, 6 copies)
7 Registration of the deed with Tax Authority

The deed reflecting the transfer of ownership is registered within 30 days from the date of the deed. According to Article 4 of the Registration and Stamp Code, as amended by Finance Act n°48-03 for budget year 2004, a sales deed must be registered with the registration office in charge of the area where the property being sold is located. Registration can be applied for either by the notary or by the parties--the Registration Code does not include any specific provision stating who is entitled to apply for registration.

The registration duty has been cut to 2.5% in the Loi de Finances pour 2006, ‘Livre d’Assiette et de Recouvrement’: articles 136.1.B.3 and 136.1.A.1. The duly signed and certified sales deed is the only document that must be provided upon registration. In 2008, the notary tax of 0.5% has been combined with the registration fees, causing no change to the cost to complete this procedure because registration fees have been raised from 2.5 to 3% of property value.



Agency: Tax authority of Casablanca 		1 - 2 months 3% of property price (registration duty)
8 The buyer applies for the inscription of the registered deed on the land registers (Conservation Foncière, du Cadastre et de la Cartographie)

Listing of the registered sales deed in the land registry is an additional formality, which is separate from registration. The buyer applies for the listing of the registered deed on the land registers. According to Article 65 bis of Royal decree of 5 August 1968 completing the dahir of 1913, such listing must be completed within 18 months from the date the deed was drafted for authentic deeds and as from the date the last signature was certified for private deeds.
Parties submit a statement that must include the following:
1. designation with land title number, of building to be listed;
2. nature of right due to be listed;
3. acquisition method and nature and date of deed testifying to it;
4. if applicable, cause of resolution, restriction or right to dispose of or special notice that needs to be listed at the same time as main right, together with details of beneficiary.
This statement must be signed by both parties. An original copy of the private deed or a copy of the authentic deed concerned is attached to such application.

One receives an official copy of the property registration certificate at the end of this process for MAD 75, which one can sell immediately.


Agency: Land Registry ("Conservation Foncière") 		3 days MAD 75 + 1% of property value (stamp duty), with a minimum of MAD 450
Explore Economy Data