The 2025 Finance Act revisited the conditions applicable to the registration of deeds and agreements with the National Land Registry Agency (Agence nationale de la conservation foncière). On December 30, the Agency issued an internal memo to all registrars, highlighting the new procedure codified in articles 139-I and 127-I of the 2025 version of the General Tax Code.
Accordingly, no deed transferring ownership of real estate, which is subject to the formality of registration, will be accepted by registrars unless it has first been registered with the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI) on the basis of a model form drawn up by the administration in lieu of a certificate of registration. This document enables the registrar to verify that the deed has actually been registered, and that the relevant fees have been paid.
Consequently, the Kingdom’s registrars will have to check that the deed submitted for deposit with the National Land Registry Agency or for entry in the land register is accompanied by the mandatory form. Failure to do so will result in the formality being rejected. It goes without saying that the new procedure applies to formalities carried out on or after January 01, the date on which the 2025 Finance Act comes into force. “As a general rule, before being registered with the Land Registry, all deeds must go through the registration service, either with payment of a fixed or proportional rate, or with total exemption from payment. All deeds, whatever their nature, must therefore first be registered with the Directorate General of Taxes before being filed with the Land Registry, with the exception of simple documents such as a request, a query, a piece of information of any kind, etc. But in the case of a contract of sale, donation, exchange, sharing, exchange, donation, mortgage, mortgage release, etc., the registration procedure with the tax authorities is compulsory”, points out M’barek Sbaghi, notary in Casablanca.
He adds that “ Moreover, the General Tax Code, the Land Law and, above all, Law No. 32-09 governing the notarial profession require notaries to submit to the Land Registry only deeds that have already been registered «. In fact, Article 47 of Law n°32-09 states that “ a notary must submit copies of writings and deeds, certified as true copies of the original by him or her, to the competent registration office for registration, pay the amount due within the time limit set by law, and complete the formalities required for registration in the land registers ”.
Hassan EL ARIF
