Repatriating the Money From a Property Sale in Morocco: the Transfer Guarantee, Explained

On the day you sell, everything turns on papers you kept from the day you bought.

By the Namup team, Updated July 2026

It is the diaspora's most common worry, and it fits in one sentence: "I've sold the apartment in Morocco, can the money follow me home?" The honest answer: yes, freely, capital gain included, provided you have the right paper trail. And if that trail is missing, there is a plan-B scenario, legal but slow, where the money only leaves in instalments. The difference between the two is not decided on the day of the sale: it was decided on the day of the purchase, in the way the money entered Morocco. Here is the whole mechanism, piece by piece.

The transfer guarantee: your freedom to repatriate, written into the text

Morocco's exchange regulations, the Instruction Générale des Opérations de Change of the Office des Changes, grant foreign investments in Morocco a "convertibility regime" guaranteeing "entire freedom" to transfer the investment's income and the proceeds of its sale¹. Three details that matter to you:

• Moroccans living abroad are covered: the text includes them expressly in the definition of foreign investment¹.
• Property is covered: acquiring real estate is a listed investment form, construction works included¹.
• The capital gain is covered: the Office des Changes says it plainly, the transfer covers the investment's nominal value "as well as any capital gain"².

The entry condition is single and non-negotiable: the investment must have been financed in foreign currency, by a transfer received from abroad, or by debiting a foreign-currency or convertible dirham account³. That is the thread your bank will trace back: if the money entered through the convertible banking circuits, everything can leave. If it entered as cash handed over in person, the thread does not exist.

The proof file: what your bank must demand

On transfer day, your bank will not take your word for it, the regulation requires it to demand a file⁴:

• Proof that the taxes due on the sale have been paid, the tax side, below;
• Proof of the original financing: the exchange forms, the credit advice of the transfer received from abroad, the debit advice of the convertible dirham account, the exchange slip (bordereau de change)⁵. These are documents your Moroccan bank issued at purchase time, and behind them, keep your own international-transfer receipts too (the SWIFT confirmation from your sending bank): that is the practical trace that lets the thread be rebuilt if a form has gone missing;
• A copy of the sale deed and a copy of the purchase deed;
• Proof of your residence abroad, for Moroccans residing abroad.

The lesson is one habit: the repatriation file is built at purchase, not at sale. Every transfer, every form, every credit advice, every deed, one file, kept in duplicate, for the whole life of the property.

Without the file: the term convertible account, or money in slow motion

What if the property wasn't financed in foreign currency, bought in cash, or with ordinary dirhams? The sale remains perfectly legal, the money remains yours… but it enjoys no transfer guarantee. The dirham proceeds, once the taxes are settled, are paid into a "compte convertible à terme" (term convertible account)⁶. From that account, funds can only be transferred abroad "in four equal tranches of 25% each": the first as soon as the funds are credited, then one tranche per year on each anniversary date⁷. Three years of waiting for the last tranche, during which the funds remain freely usable inside Morocco, without any amount limit⁷.

That is the scenario this whole article helps you avoid. It is not an arbitrary punishment: it is simply what remains when proof of the foreign-currency origin doesn't exist. The way out is known in advance, the file in the previous section.

The tax side: the property-profit tax, no nasty surprises

Before any transfer, the Moroccan tax administration must have its due, and here too the rules are public and dated:

• The tax: the net profit (sale price minus acquisition price and costs) is taxed at 20%, with a minimum of 3% of the sale price, due even when there is no profit⁸.
• The deadline: the declaration is filed electronically, via the tax administration's SIMPL online services on tax.gov.ma, with the tax paid at the same time, within 30 days of the sale⁹.
• The main-residence exemption: the profit on selling a home occupied as a main residence for at least 5 years is exempt, and the text thinks of the diaspora: the home a Moroccan living abroad keeps as their residence in Morocco, or which their spouse, parents or children occupy free of charge, counts as a main residence¹⁰. Above a sale price of 4,000,000 DH, a 3% minimum remains due on the portion above that amount¹⁰.
• The anxiety-killer: the advance ruling. Since 2023, you can ask the administration, within 30 days of the preliminary sale agreement, to validate your tax computation before the sale. Its answer, delivered within 60 days and valid for 6 months, "serves as certificate of tax assessment or exemption"; and if you declare and pay in line with that certificate, you are "exempted from tax audit" on that sale¹¹. In other words: no more uncertainty about the amount, and the tax piece of your repatriation file is ready in advance.

The payment documents, the declaration receipt, the certificate from the advance ruling, are exactly what your bank will ask for under the "taxes" heading of the repatriation file. The notary, for their part, cannot draw up the deed without the certificate showing the property's taxes are paid¹², one more guardrail working in your favour.

Two countries, one clear picture

A property in Morocco, sale proceeds in dirhams, a project that continues in euros or dollars: this is precisely the "life between two countries" Namup is built for. Your wealth, here and there, fits in one picture, and your month in one calculation: income − commitments − savings = what you can spend, with savings withheld at source, right there with the bills. Sale proceeds are not a jackpot to spend: they are a line of your wealth changing country and form, and they deserve to be seen whole.

Try it in 60 seconds, free, no card. See my wealth →

To close the loop: the account mechanics behind all of this are explained in the convertible dirham account: the mistake that traps your money. And once the money has landed, your country of residence takes over: form 3916 in France, T1135 in Canada.

Frequently asked questions

I bought fifteen years ago and can't find the transfer proofs anymore. Is everything lost?

No, but the file gets rebuilt, not improvised. Your Moroccan bank issued the exchange forms and credit advices at the time and can search its records; your sending bank can reissue the international-transfer receipts. Start that work before putting the property on the market, not after, and it is exactly the kind of step where your notary and your bank, told early, make the difference.

Does the guarantee cover the capital gain, or only what I originally put in?

Both. The Office des Changes writes it in black and white: the transfer covers the investment's nominal value "as well as any capital gain". If the apartment financed in foreign currency doubled in value, it is the net sale proceeds, taxes paid, that can be transferred, not just your original stake.

Does an inherited property benefit from the transfer guarantee?

The text expressly provides for transferring the "proceeds of sale or liquidation of foreign investments in Morocco arising from inheritance", the guarantee follows the property if the original investment qualified. Successions carry their own subtleties (proving the deceased's original financing, splitting between heirs): this is a case where professional guidance is not optional.

How long does repatriation take when the file is complete?

The regulation sets no waiting period once the file is assembled: the transfer guarantee is an "entire freedom", and the timeline becomes your bank's, checking the file, executing the transfer. In practice, completeness (tax proof + original financing + deeds) is what makes the speed. The instalment scenario only concerns sales without proof of foreign-currency financing.

1. Instruction Générale des Opérations de Change 2026 (Office des Changes, in force 1 January 2026), chapter IV, article 171 "Garantie de transfert": foreign investments financed in foreign currency enjoy "un régime de convertibilité qui garantit aux investisseurs concernés, l'entière liberté pour le transfert au titre : des revenus produits par ces investissements ; du produit de cession ou de liquidation de ces investissements ; … du produit de cession ou de liquidation d'investissements étrangers au Maroc issu de la dévolution successorale." Article 170 includes "les personnes physiques de nationalité marocaine résidant à l'étranger"; article 172 lists property acquisition and construction works. IGOC 2026, official PDF, oc.gov.ma, consulted July 2026. ↩
2. Office des Changes, "Transfert de revenu d'investissement, MRE": "Le transfert doit porter sur la valeur nominale de l'investissement ainsi que sur la plus-value éventuelle." oc.gov.ma, consulted July 2026. ↩
3. IGOC 2026, articles 173 and 11: financing in foreign currency by "virement reçu de l'étranger ; débit de comptes en devises ou en dirhams convertibles des étrangers résidents ou non-résidents et des Marocains résidant à l'étranger". ↩
4. IGOC 2026, article 177 "Remise de documents": "les banques doivent exiger la remise, en sus des pièces justifiant le règlement des impôts et taxes dus au titre des opérations de cession ou de liquidation, les documents suivants : … Pour les biens immeubles : copie de l'acte de vente et copie de l'acte d'achat ; … Justificatifs de la résidence à l'étranger pour les Marocains résidant à l'étranger." ↩
5. IGOC 2026, article 12 "Justificatifs de règlements": exchange forms (sale/purchase of currency, debit of a convertible dirham account), "l'avis de crédit faisant référence à l'opération de change concernée", "l'avis de débit d'un compte en dirhams convertibles", "le bordereau de change". The SWIFT message (MT103 type) is not named by the text: it is the practical banking evidence behind the "transfer received from abroad". ↩
6. IGOC 2026, article 174 "Modalités de règlement": "Si l'investissement cédé ou liquidé ne bénéficie pas du régime de convertibilité, le produit en dirhams, après justification du paiement des impôts et taxes …, doit être : mis à la disposition du vendeur si ce dernier réside au Maroc ; ou versé dans un compte convertible à terme." ↩
7. IGOC 2026, article 241 "Comptes convertibles à terme": "Les disponibilités des « comptes convertibles à terme » peuvent être transférées en quatre tranches égales de 25 % chacune. Le transfert de la première tranche peut intervenir dès l'inscription des fonds au crédit desdits comptes. Le transfert des trois autres tranches ne peut intervenir qu'annuellement à la date anniversaire d'inscription des fonds au compte." Funds remain usable in Morocco "sans limitation de montant". ↩
8. Moroccan Code Général des Impôts, 2026 edition: article 73-II-F-6° (20% rate on property profits, final withholding); article 144-II-1°: "un minimum d'imposition, même en l'absence de profit, qui ne peut être inférieur à 3 % du prix de cession"; article 65 (net profit = sale price minus costs, minus acquisition price and costs). CGI 2026, official PDF, finances.gov.ma / tax.gov.ma, consulted July 2026. ↩
9. CGI 2026, article 83-I: declaration "dans les trente (30) jours qui suivent la date de la cession", with simultaneous payment of the tax (article 173-I). Filing and payment available through the tax administration's SIMPL online services on tax.gov.ma ("Simpl IR Particulier", property-profits declaration service, official DGI guide). ↩
10. CGI 2026, article 63-II-B: exemption for a home held "au titre de son habitation principale depuis au moins cinq (5) ans" (period cut from 6 to 5 years by the 2023 finance law n° 50-22); counted as a main residence is "le logement que les marocains résidents à l'étranger conservent au titre de leur habitation au Maroc ou celui occupé à titre gratuit par leur conjoint, leurs ascendants ou descendants en ligne directe au premier degré". Article 144-II-2°: above a 4,000,000 DH sale price, a 3% minimum remains due on the portion above that amount. ↩
11. CGI 2026, article 234 quinquies (introduced by the 2023 finance law): request "souscrite, par voie électronique …, dans les trente (30) jours suivant la date du compromis de vente"; "la réponse de l'administration qui vaut attestation de liquidation de l'impôt ou d'exonération doit être communiquée au demandeur dans un délai de soixante (60) jours … Elle demeure valable pour une période de six (6) mois"; a taxpayer who declares and pays on that basis "sera dispensé du contrôle fiscal en matière d'impôt sur le revenu au titre des profits fonciers". Official guide: "Guide de demande de l'avis préalable de l'administration en matière d'IR/Profit foncier", DGI, tax.gov.ma. ↩
12. CGI 2026, article 139-IV: notaries and adouls may not draw up the deed without "l'attestation des services de recouvrement justifiant du paiement des impôts et taxes grevant l'immeuble", on pain of joint tax liability. ↩