Expense receipts in Morocco: retention period and deductible VAT

In this article

Your chartered accountant is preparing the month's VAT return and asks you for the invoice of a supplier you paid 12,000 DH (incl. VAT) in March. It is still in a car's glove box, or in a WhatsApp conversation. Without that document, you risk losing two benefits at once: deducting the expense from your taxable profit and recovering the VAT you paid.

This guide explains what the General Tax Code (CGI) expects from an expense receipt, how long to keep it, and how to organise your day-to-day so you never have to chase a document.

Disclaimer: this article is an educational summary, not legal or accounting advice. The rules change with every finance law; have your situation validated by your chartered accountant.

1. What is a valid supporting document?

Article 146 of the CGI sets the principle: every purchase of goods or services must be genuine and backed by a regular, probative invoice issued in the name of the company that incurred it. The invoice must contain the particulars required by article 145 of the CGI. On the supplier side, these include:

the company name and address;
the ICE, the tax identification number (IF) and the business tax number (TP) (the trade register number (RC) also appears in practice);
the invoice number (continuous series) and date;
the description, quantity and unit price;
the amount excluding VAT, the VAT rate and amount, and the amount including VAT;
the payment references and method.

The invoice must also identify the buyer: that is your company, with its name and, for a business customer, its ICE. An invoice made out "to the manager" or without your company's ICE is the leading cause of refused deductions. For the detailed particulars, see our guide on the DGI-compliant invoice and the one on the ICE.

What is generally not enough:

an illegible till receipt, or one without the supplier's name;
a delivery note or a quote (they are not invoices);
a bank statement alone: it proves payment, not the nature of the purchase;
a proforma invoice.

Always keep two pieces of evidence: the invoice (what was bought) and the trace of the payment (how it was paid).

2. How long should you keep the documents?

Article 211 of the CGI requires you to keep, for 10 years, at the place where you are taxed, copies of sales invoices or till receipts, the supporting documents for expenses and investments, and the accounting documents needed for the audit. If these documents are lost (fire, theft…), the same article requires you to inform the tax inspector by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt within 15 days of discovering the loss (30 days in the event of force majeure).

Do not confuse two different periods:

Period	Duration	What it is for
Retention of documents	10 years	Obligation to comply with (art. 211 CGI)
Limitation of the audit right	Until 31 December of the 4th year following the financial year (general case)	Period during which the administration can issue reassessments (art. 232 CGI)

Documents for a given year are therefore generally exposed to audit for four years, but you must keep them for ten. For formats (paper, scan, backup), see invoice archiving in Morocco.

3. Conditions for deducting VAT

To recover the VAT on a purchase, you need at least:

A purchase linked to the business: VAT on goods or services not used for business needs is not deductible.
A compliant invoice (art. 146): without a compliant invoice, the VAT on the purchase does not give a right to deduction (art. 106 CGI).
A supplier in good standing: article 146 provides that the administration may refuse the deduction where the invoice comes from a defaulting supplier (filing and payment obligations not met) with no genuine activity. The administration publishes on its website the list of tax identification numbers of defaulting suppliers convicted by a final judgment: check your suppliers.
Traceable payment above the cash limits (see section 4).

Example. You buy office equipment for 6,000 DH excluding VAT from a supplier, VAT at 20%: 1,200 DH, i.e. 7,200 DH including VAT. The invoice bears your company's name and ICE, the supplier is in good standing, and you pay by bank transfer: you recover the 1,200 DH of VAT. If the invoice is made out in the manager's name, that 1,200 DH is exposed to rejection in an audit.

4. The payment matters as much as the invoice

The cash rules are detailed in our article on cash payments in Morocco. What matters for your receipts:

Expenses (corporate / income tax), article 11-II: expenses paid by a non-traceable means are deductible only up to 5,000 DH per day and 50,000 DH per month, per supplier.
VAT, article 106-II: the tax on purchases exceeding 5,000 DH per day per supplier, within a limit of 50,000 DH per month, is not deductible if they are not paid by non-endorsable crossed cheque, bill of exchange, magnetic means, bank transfer, electronic process or documented set-off.

Example. You pay the same supplier 4,000 DH in cash in the morning and 3,000 DH in the afternoon: 7,000 DH in one day, so the 5,000 DH limit is exceeded. Both the expense and the VAT are exposed. With a bank transfer, there is no problem.

What counts is the cumulative total per supplier, not each individual receipt. Keep proof of the payment method (transfer advice, cheque copy, statement).

5. The risks in a tax audit

Article 210 of the CGI gives the administration the right to check your returns and to ask you to produce supporting documents. An expense without a valid document can lead to:

the add-back of the expense to your profit (article 11-III: additional corporate or income tax);
the rejection of the VAT deduction, with the tax having to be repaid;
surcharges and penalties provided for by the CGI, the amount of which depends on the case.

The risk is mechanical: the administration does not have to prove the expense was fictitious; it is up to you to produce a regular document. An 800 DH expense with no invoice costs little; a hundred such expenses over three years weigh heavily.

6. Getting organised: a simple routine

Scan the same day. A clear, readable, complete photo or scan (both sides if needed).
Name files consistently: 2026-10-03_Supplier_number_amountTTC.pdf.
Attach the document to the expense when you record it, not three months later.
Check on receipt: your company's name, ICE, itemised VAT, readable date and amount. Have the supplier correct anything straight away: this is the easiest moment.
Do a monthly review, before the VAT return: list the expenses with no document and chase them.
Back up (3-2-1 rule) and keep paper originals in line with your audit habits.

In practice with Billora

Billora is not accounting software, but it helps you keep to this routine:

Attachments on every expense: in the "Justificatifs" (supporting documents) card of the record, "Ajouter un document" (add a document) lets you upload the photo or PDF. See Recording an expense.
"Justificatifs manquants" (missing receipts) page: it lists validated expenses with no attachment at all, with the amount including VAT and the deductible VAT concerned (indicative). You filter by period, supplier or amount.
One-click request to your team: from this page, you ask for the document from the members of your team who can add it, by e-mail and notification. The request goes neither to your customers nor to your suppliers: if the supplier is the one who must provide the invoice, you need to ask them for it yourself. Details: Missing receipts.
Accounting attention points: one alert groups the expenses of 500 DH or more (incl. VAT) with no document, with a "Voir et réclamer" (view and request) link.
Expenses report for your monthly review, before the VAT return.

These screens flag what deserves a look: they do not certify that your documents are compliant. Your chartered accountant remains the judge.

Frequently asked questions

Is a till receipt enough to deduct VAT?

Rarely. For VAT, article 146 requires an invoice made out in your name with the particulars of article 145 (including the ICE). An anonymous receipt proves a payment but does not identify you as the buyer. Ask the supplier for an invoice.

How long must I keep my supporting documents?

10 years (art. 211 CGI), even though the audit right generally lapses after 4 years.

Does a scan replace the paper original?

A faithful, legible scan makes archiving and searching easier, but some inspectors may ask for the original. See our article on archiving and keep the originals of major purchases.

What if I have lost a supplier's invoice?

Ask the supplier for a duplicate, which they should be able to reissue. Keep proof of payment and the written request. Without a document, the deduction is exposed.

Is a 4,000 DH cash payment always deductible?

It is under the 5,000 DH daily limit, but the cumulative total counts: with 50,000 DH per month per supplier, or several purchases on the same day, the limit can be exceeded. Prefer bank transfer.