2027 finance bill: Morocco expects MAD 195 million from betting and lotteries

Finance Bill No. 60.26 for the 2027 fiscal year projects around MAD 195 million in revenue from betting, lotteries and dividends paid by the Société Royale d’Encouragement du Cheval (SOREC). The bill also widens the tax administration’s powers over gambling winnings.

Most of that sum, MAD 170 million, is earmarked for two special Treasury accounts. The remaining MAD 25 million is expected as dividends that SOREC, a key operator in horse-racing betting in the Kingdom, will pay to the State.

Two accounts, one dividend

Table “A” of the bill, covering State resources, forecasts MAD 90 million for the account fed by levies on pari-mutuel betting. Table “G” caps authorised spending for the same account at an identical amount, so the money stays reserved for that account’s specific purposes rather than flowing into general budget resources.

The lottery proceeds account is projected to receive MAD 80 million, with authorised expenditure set at the same level. Together, the special Treasury accounts are expected to total about MAD 182.5 billion in resources, of which more than MAD 170.4 billion relate to accounts allocated to specific purposes.

The SOREC dividend of MAD 25 million appears among resources overseen by the Directorate of Public Enterprises and Privatisation, under the heading of profits from other companies.

Two further lines in the general budget of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Public Efficiency, a levy on gaming proceeds and a levy on horse and greyhound race betting, carry no figure and are listed only “for the record”. The MAD 195 million therefore covers only the items given a number in the tables. It does not represent the total turnover of the betting and lottery sector, nor all taxes linked to it.

Measured against ordinary general budget revenue, forecast at around MAD 482.4 billion for next year, the amount equals roughly 0.04%, although most of it sits in special Treasury accounts rather than ordinary revenue.

Winnings under closer tax scrutiny

The bill amends Article 228 of the General Tax Code, which governs the automatic tax assessment procedure, to cover the declaration of gambling winnings provided for in Article 154 ter of the same code.

Under the proposed wording, failing to file that declaration within the legal deadline, or filing an incomplete one, could trigger the procedure. Services of the General Tax Directorate would then be able to determine the tax due, subject to the legal guarantees and procedures that frame such action.

The change does not create a new tax on games of chance. It extends an existing procedure to cases of non-declaration or incomplete declaration, and a late filing alone would not lead to immediate taxation outside the procedural rules.

If finally adopted, the amendments to Article 228 will apply from January 1, 2027, to procedures initiated from that date.