Short-term letting in Marrakech: the practical guide

1. The legal framework for short-term rentals

Letting your home to travellers is legal in Morocco. The activity falls under law no. 80-14 on tourist establishments and other forms of tourist accommodation, supplemented by decree no. 2.23.441, published in the Official Bulletin on 7 August 2023.

The decree regulates homestay accommodation, also called alternative accommodation. The owner files an application with a copy of their ID card, photos of the rooms and shared areas, and a copy of the occupancy permit or an engineer’s certificate showing the building meets safety requirements. Once approved, the authorisation is valid for five years, renewable. The maximum number of rooms that can be let is set by a joint decision of the Ministries of Tourism and the Interior.

For whole apartments let on Airbnb or Booking, the framework is still evolving: in July 2025, the Ministry of Tourism said it was preparing an additional order under law 80-14 to bring these currently unclassified properties into a classification common to all forms of accommodation. Since the 2023 decree, applications for tourist accommodation go through the Regional Investment Centres (CRI): before you start, check with the Marrakech-Safi CRI.

Check your building’s rules too

In an apartment building, the co-ownership rules may regulate or restrict letting to travellers. Read them, and let the building manager and caretaker know: good relations with neighbours prevent many problems.

2. Police registration

In Morocco, every guest must be declared to the authorities, whether Moroccan or foreign. Law 80-14 requires tourist accommodation to keep a guest register and declare overnight stays (articles 36 to 38).

• What goes on the form: the guest’s full identity, nationality, type and number of ID document (passport or national ID card), arrival and departure dates, and the people travelling with them.
• When: at every arrival. Ask for ID documents before guests enter the property.
• How: authorised establishments declare online on the stdn.ma platform, every day before 8 am. For a private property, the form is handed to the police station or gendarmerie covering the property. Practical arrangements can vary: ask your local police station.

Booking platforms do not make this declaration for you: it is the host’s responsibility. With our full management, we complete the police registration for every stay.

3. Tourist tax

The tourist tax (taxe de séjour) is a municipal tax set out in law no. 47-06 on local taxation. Law no. 07-20(end of 2020) extended it to “other forms of tourist accommodation”, in particular apartments let by their owners through online booking platforms.

• Basis: an amount per person and per night.
• Exemption: children under 12.
• Amount: set by each municipality, by accommodation category, within ranges set by law (from 2 to 30 MAD per person per night depending on the category).
• Declaration and payment: an annual declaration of the number of guests and nights before 1 April, and a payment every quarter to the municipal tax office.

Example: for 2 adults and one 8-year-old child staying 4 nights, the tax applies to 2 people × 4 nights = 8 person-nights. The rate for your property is the one set by the Marrakech municipality: ask its tax office before your first booking, and include it in your prices.

What Marrakech properties show on Booking

The Marrakech municipality does not publish its rates online. To give an idea, we simulated a booking on Booking.com on 11 October 2026 (2 adults, 2 nights in November). Each property shows a “tourist tax” per person and per night, not included in the price and paid on site:

These amounts are declared by the properties themselves: they are not an official scale. Riads classified as guest houses often list two separate taxes, the municipal tourist tax and the tourism promotion tax.

4. Tax on your rental income

Moroccan or foreign: what matters is your tax residence

Rent from a property located in Morocco is taxable in Morocco, whatever your nationality. The same rules therefore apply to a Moroccan, a Moroccan living abroad (MRE) and a foreign national. Your tax residence matters mainly for your other income and for tax in your country of residence (see part 5). Under the General Tax Code (article 23), you are tax resident in Morocco if your permanent home or the centre of your economic interests is there, or if you stay there for more than 183 days in any 365-day period.

Property income

According to the tax guide of the Moroccan tax authority (DGI), the owner of a home that is let pays income tax on it as property income:

• a flat 40% allowance applies to gross rent: only 60% is taxed;
• tax is then calculated using the progressive scale below;
• the annual return is filed online, before 1 March of the following year, on the DGI’s SIMPL service (tax.gov.ma), and the tax is paid at the same time.

Withholding tax and the 20% rate: rarely for Airbnb

When the tenant is a company or a professional, they withhold tax at source: 10% of gross rent below 120,000 MAD a year, 15% above. Since January 2025, this rent can be taxed at a final flat rate of 20% on option. These rules do not apply to private guests on Airbnb or Booking: in that case, the annual return applies.

Letting with hotel-type services

If the letting comes with hotel-type services (breakfast, daily cleaning, reception), the tax authority may treat it as a business activity, taxed under different rules. In that case, have your situation checked by a chartered accountant.

What about local taxes?

The property remains subject to annual local taxes (housing tax where applicable, municipal services tax). The amount depends on the property’s situation: check with the DGI.

5. If you live abroad

Whether you are a Moroccan living abroad or a foreign national, you declare and pay tax in Morocco on the rent from your Moroccan property, under the rules in part 4. Your country of residence may also ask you to declare this income: the tax treaty between that country and Morocco prevents double taxation.

If you live in France

According to the official notice for French tax form no. 2047, property income from Morocco is taxed in Morocco and exempt in France, but it is taken into account to calculate the tax rate on your other income (the “effective rate” rule). You declare it on form no. 2042 C, line 4EA (actual expenses regime) or 4EB (micro-foncier regime).

If you live in another country

Morocco has signed tax treaties with many countries, including Belgium, Spain and the United Kingdom. The rules vary from one treaty to another: check with the tax authority of your country.

6. Summary

Sources

• Moroccan tax authority (DGI), Tax guide for Moroccans living abroad 2025(in French: property income, 40% allowance, tax scale, withholding, return before 1 March).
• Local authorities portal, main provisions of law no. 07-20(in French: tourist tax extended to apartments let through platforms).
• LesEco.ma, “Taxe de séjour : un levier stratégique à l’heure du boom touristique”, 29 May 2025 (articles 70 to 76 of amended law 47-06: exemption, ranges, declaration, payment).
• Médias24, “Nouveau décret sur les hébergements touristiques : les explications de F.-Z. Ammor”, 29 August 2023 (decree no. 2.23.441, homestay accommodation, five-year authorisation).
• Médias24, “Airbnb, riads, appartements : le Maroc s’apprête à régulariser l’hébergement non classé”, 8 July 2025 (additional order in preparation).
• L’Economiste, “Tourisme : une plateforme pour télédéclarer les nuitées”(stdn.ma platform, articles 36 to 38 of law 80-14).
• French tax authority, notice for form no. 2047 (2025 income)(property income from Morocco, effective rate, lines 4EA and 4EB).
• Moroccan General Tax Code, article 23 (tax domicile).