From FIFA profits and broadcasting rights to ticket sales and players’ prize money, Morocco’s 2027 Finance Bill proposes an exceptional tax regime. The cost of these concessions and their economic return remain to be established.
The financial assessment of the 2030 FIFA World Cup does not have to begin with the stadiums that will host the matches or the scale of investment required to stage the tournament. It must also address a question more directly connected to the distribution of revenues and costs: what will Morocco gain from hosting the competition, and which tax revenues is the state proposing to forgo in favour of FIFA, the organisations and the companies associated with it?
Morocco’s 2027 Finance Bill opens this issue on a substantial scale. The provisions introduced by the government in the draft submitted to Parliament go beyond a limited set of exemptions tied to the match period. They propose a special tax and customs regime covering profits, commercial income, broadcasting rights, ticket sales, purchases and imports. The proposed arrangements also extend to certain employees and seconded personnel, volunteers, non-resident players, and a possible sports and social legacy fund that FIFA could establish.
Under the draft provisions, some exemptions would take effect on 1 January 2027, while others could remain in force until 31 December 2032. The proposed regime therefore extends beyond the tournament itself. It also covers certain preparatory activities and related operations, with different eligibility periods depending on the category of beneficiary and the nature of the transaction.
The draft details the proposed benefits and the conditions attached to them. However, the provisions presented do not provide an overall estimate of the tax revenues the state could forgo. This is a significant limitation when assessing the fiscal impact of the measures. It does not, by itself, prove that hosting the tournament will result in a loss or that the proposed exemptions are unjustified.
From staging matches to regulating the economic activity around them
When FIFA selected Morocco, Spain and Portugal to host the 2030 World Cup, the task was not simply to distribute matches among stadiums in the three countries. The tournament involves a broader network of commercial, media and logistical services, marketing and broadcasting rights, and businesses and organisations operating before, during and after the competition.
In December 2024, FIFA confirmed the appointment of Morocco, Spain and Portugal as hosts, alongside plans for three centenary matches in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. This arrangement makes it particularly important to define which activities in each host country will be considered directly connected to the tournament for the purposes of applying the proposed tax benefits.
That same month, FIFA announced an agreement with the Moroccan government and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation to open an African office in Rabat, with operations expected to begin in 2025. The development reflects FIFA’s expanding institutional presence in Morocco. It does not, however, establish that every FIFA activity in the country will automatically qualify for the proposed exemptions. Eligibility will depend on the definitions, conditions and limits set out in the legislation.
Through the Finance Bill, the government intends to incorporate World Cup-related tax arrangements into Morocco’s General Tax Code. The explanatory memorandum states that the proposed measures are intended to implement the tax commitments Morocco has undertaken towards FIFA, beginning in 2027, for the relevant events organised in the Kingdom.
This is important to understanding the nature of the proposed regime. The exemptions are not presented as a temporary measure introduced without prior arrangements, but as the legal implementation of commitments the government says it has made to the international governing body. The existence of such commitments does not remove the need to clarify their precise scope, nor does it prevent Parliament from examining their incorporation into domestic law and their budgetary consequences.
Profits and commercial rights: a regime distinct from ordinary taxation
The proposed provisions cover FIFA, the bodies responsible for delivering the tournament, its subsidiaries and the football associations concerned with hosting, as well as certain categories of service providers and contractors identified under the conditions set out in the draft. For several of these categories, the absence of a registered office in Morocco would not, on its own, prevent access to the special regime for qualifying operations.
The proposed arrangements include exemptions from corporate income tax and the social solidarity contribution on profits and income falling within the scope defined by the draft. They also address, subject to specified conditions, withholding taxes on certain financial and commercial revenues.
The income categories include dividends and participation income, interest, service fees and rental income, as well as certain revenues earned by television broadcasters and service providers involved in the tournament.
The significance of this scope lies in the fact that the economic activity surrounding a World Cup is not confined to ticket sales or the use of stadiums. Broadcasting and commercial rights, services supplied to organising bodies, and contracts covering equipment, accommodation, transport and hospitality all form part of a wider economic system.
This does not mean that every revenue stream earned by a company connected to the World Cup will automatically be exempt. The draft links eligibility to the status of the beneficiary, the nature of the operation and its relationship to the competition or related events, alongside other legal conditions. Nevertheless, the range of potential beneficiaries makes a precise definition of the exemptions’ scope and rigorous monitoring of their application particularly important.
Several distinctions must be maintained. An exemption on profits from a specific activity does not necessarily mean that all the company’s activities receive the same treatment. Similarly, an exemption from withholding tax on a particular payment does not automatically place every financial transaction connected to the tournament outside Morocco’s tax system.
Ticket sales and broadcasting rights: where does commercial income end and tax expenditure begin?
One provision requiring particular attention is the proposed exemption from value-added tax (VAT) on sales of tickets for World Cup matches and associated events, where the transactions are conducted by FIFA, on its behalf, or by authorised bodies and football associations, subject to the conditions set out in the draft.
Ticket sales are only one source of tournament-related income. Other revenue streams include television broadcasting rights, commercial rights, advertising services, hospitality contracts and products associated with the event’s brand. The proposed regime covers certain operations, purchases and services connected to these activities, without automatically placing every transaction in the Moroccan market under the same tax treatment.
The VAT exemption alone does not establish that ticket prices will fall or that supporters will directly benefit from lower prices. Final prices depend on other factors, including commercial pricing policies, organisational costs and demand. The draft does not specify anticipated ticket prices or projected sales volumes.
From a budgetary perspective, the questions are different. How much activity will qualify for the exemption? How much revenue would the Treasury have collected if those transactions had been subject to the ordinary tax regime? Will the authorities publish data allowing the tax benefits granted to be compared with the revenue and economic activity actually generated in Morocco?
The provisions presented do not provide numerical answers to these questions. They therefore do not allow the overall cost of the exemptions to be calculated or support a claim that the cost will reach a particular amount.
Purchases and imports: benefits extending beyond the tournament
The proposed benefits are not limited to profits and commercial transactions. The draft provides for VAT exemptions on certain goods, equipment and services purchased in Morocco or imported from abroad, provided they meet the conditions linking them to the organisation of the competition. It also proposes exemptions from customs duties and certain import taxes for FIFA, its affiliated bodies and the relevant football associations, according to the categories and operations specified in the text.
The different time limits are significant. Some of the principal exemptions would run from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2032. Others would end on 31 December 2031. For certain FIFA member associations, the proposed period would run from 1 January 2029 to 30 June 2031.
These schedules show that the regime is not designed solely for the weeks in which matches are played. It covers several years of preparation, delivery and the settlement of certain related operations. Temporary imports of equipment or technical resources unavailable in the domestic market may meet genuine operational needs. The scale and nature of the event may also require specialised services from abroad. But establishing that such needs exist does not remove the need to specify the value and nature of the imports and what happens to the goods once they are no longer required.
Subject to the conditions set out in the draft, equipment and goods that benefited from exemptions could be re-exported after their use is no longer necessary. The draft also provides for their transfer within Morocco to sports organisations, institutions working in social development or charitable institutions, without requiring payment of the duties and taxes from which they were previously exempt.
This provision could make it possible to reuse certain items for sports or social activities after the tournament. Its actual impact, however, will depend on the type of equipment, the organisations receiving it, the transfer conditions and the monitoring arrangements. The legal possibility of reallocating equipment does not, by itself, prove that the goods will reach the intended organisations or meet their needs.
Employees, volunteers and players: who qualifies for the exemptions?
The proposed regime extends to individuals performing functions connected with the tournament. It provides for income-tax exemptions on certain remuneration and cash or in-kind allowances received by employees and personnel seconded to the foreign organisations concerned, including match officials, where the payments are related to the competition.
Eligibility would be subject to conditions, including requirements concerning entry into and departure from Morocco during a specified period beginning 60 days before the first match and ending 60 days after the final. Individuals whose tax domicile is in Morocco would be excluded from this particular exemption.
The draft also provides exemptions for volunteers, whether resident in Morocco or abroad, in respect of certain payments, allowances and reimbursements for expenses incurred while helping prepare, welcome and organise the competition. It also covers prizes and bonuses paid to non-resident players by FIFA or its member associations when they relate to participation in the World Cup or the events covered by the draft.
These measures depend on the nature of the activity, the beneficiary’s status and the source of the payment. They do not constitute a blanket exemption for anyone taking part in a sporting activity during the relevant years. The procedures used to identify beneficiaries and establish the link between payments and the competition will therefore be important.
The draft also proposes administrative and tax relief for the organisations concerned, including exemptions from certain registration duties and stamp duties, the annual vehicle tax, the tax on insurance contracts, and the air solidarity and tourism promotion levy on airline tickets purchased by these organisations or on their behalf, within the limits specified in the text.
The provisions also propose simplified procedures for refunding certain taxes and duties already paid or withheld on qualifying transactions. Applications would be submitted electronically with supporting documents, and the period for deciding on a request and issuing a refund, where appropriate, would be limited to six months from the date of submission.
Specific arrangements are also envisaged for tax declarations and audits involving eligible organisations, including a particular timetable for audits of accounting years extending through 2030. This raises an operational question: how can faster administrative processing be reconciled with the tax authorities’ ability to verify that the conditions for exemption have been met?
The “legacy fund”: a social ambition that must be measurable
The draft includes provisions for a legacy fund that FIFA could establish to support long-term social and sporting benefits in Morocco or the other host countries. The stated objectives include supporting sports infrastructure and the development of football among young people and women, as well as initiatives related to environmental protection, children, public health and social programmes for vulnerable groups.
The draft proposes special tax exemptions for the fund, including corporate income tax, VAT on its purchases and operations, registration duties and stamp duties, as well as exemptions linked to imports of goods and equipment required for its activities. The proposed provisions provide for extensive and permanent exemption treatment in respect of the taxes and duties covered.
However, the fund remains a mechanism that may be established. Its inclusion in the draft does not prove that a budget has already been allocated or that a final implementation programme exists. Nor does the announcement of social and sporting objectives establish that they will be achieved or indicate the scale of the results.
A meaningful assessment would require information on the resources allocated to the fund, its sources of financing, its governance arrangements, the bodies responsible for selecting projects and the criteria used to distribute support among regions and beneficiary groups. It would also require indicators capable of measuring outcomes after the tournament: the number of facilities built or renovated, the extent to which young people and women benefit from programmes, the types of social initiatives funded, and the arrangements for publishing accounts and results.
If the fund is intended to extend the social benefits of hosting the World Cup, publication of its financial rules, governance arrangements and evaluation criteria will be essential to distinguish announced objectives from verifiable results.
What should the public accounts make it possible to measure?
A regime of this scale cannot be evaluated by looking at tax exemptions alone. Hosting the tournament may generate revenue in tourism, transport, accommodation, consumer spending and services. It may also create opportunities for local businesses and support certain investments. At the same time, it may require public spending on infrastructure, transport, security, organisation and public services, with effects that vary across sectors, regions and time periods.
It would therefore be incorrect to treat every exemption as a net loss automatically equal to its nominal value without assessing what would have happened in its absence. It would be equally premature to assume that economic benefits will necessarily compensate for the tax revenue the state gives up. Both propositions require calculations and verifiable data.
Morocco’s Ministry of Economy and Finance publishes a tax expenditure report among the documents accompanying the Finance Bill, alongside an economic and financial report, an explanatory memorandum and other materials. However, the existence of a general tax expenditure report does not, by itself, mean that the total cost of the special regime for the 2030 World Cup has been separately estimated and published. The report must be examined to determine whether it contains a specific assessment of these exemptions.
The government and Parliament therefore face several precise questions that could turn a general debate into a measurable budgetary examination. What is the estimated cost of each category of exemption? How will eligible companies and service providers be identified? Which operations will be monitored and audited? How will data on exempt imports and purchases be published? Which indicators will be used to assess the economic and social effects after the tournament?
These questions matter because the proposed regime does not concern a single beneficiary or one category of tax. It combines profits, income, commercial rights, purchases, services, prizes, customs duties and various administrative taxes, with different periods of application extending from 2027 to 2032.
The cost of public investment required to host the tournament should be assessed separately, while remaining connected to the broader financial analysis. This would help prevent direct expenditure from being confused with tax revenue forgone, or different economic effects from being combined into a single figure that obscures their nature.
Morocco’s 2027 Finance Bill places before Parliament a special tax regime for the 2030 World Cup and identifies a substantial range of beneficiaries and qualifying operations. But assessing its cost and return requires more than a list of exemptions: it requires published estimates, a baseline for comparison, monitoring mechanisms and, eventually, results that allow the management of public resources to be scrutinised.
The financial issue is therefore not limited to what the state will spend on staging the competition or the taxes from which international bodies and their contractors may be exempt. It also concerns the ability of public institutions to demonstrate a verifiable relationship between the benefits granted and the gains that will actually accrue to Morocco’s economy and society.
