How the vignette is calculated in Morocco in 2026
The vignette, officially the special annual tax on vehicles (TSAV), is a fixed yearly amount: there is no percentage and no engine-size formula. Two lines of the carte grise decide it, the fiscal horsepower (CV) and the fuel. This guide explains the 2026 Morocco car tax tariff, the January deadline, the late-payment penalties, the exemptions, and the points that trip up car owners and rental agencies every year.
Step by step: from the carte grise to the amount
- Read the fiscal horsepower (puissance fiscale) on the carte grise. It is an administrative figure, far lower than the engine power in horsepower: do not type the figure from the sales brochure.
- Check the fuel: petrol, diesel, or an electric or hybrid engine. Electric and hybrid cars stop here, they pay nothing.
- Find the band: under 8 CV, 8 to 10 CV, 11 to 14 CV, or 15 CV and over. Each band has one amount for petrol and one for diesel.
- Add the late penalty if you pay after 31 January.
Diesel always costs more than petrol in the same band: twice as much under 8 CV, and two and a half times as much from 15 CV (20,000 DH against 8,000 DH). The tariff has one exception: a diesel pick-up owned by an individual pays the petrol amount.
This scale covers vehicles with a total laden weight up to 3,000 kg, and 4x4s not used for business whatever their weight. Heavier vehicles pay by weight, from 800 DH (over 3,000 kg up to 5,000 kg) to 11,000 DH (over 40,000 kg).
Worked examples
- A 6 CV diesel car paid on time: under 8 CV in diesel, 700 DH.
- The same car paid three months late: 15% for the first month plus 0.5% for each of the two extra months, 16% in all. 700 × 16% = 112 DH of penalty, 812 DH in total.
- A 5 CV petrol car one month late: 15% of 350 DH is 52.50 DH, below the 100 DH minimum, so the penalty is 100 DH and the total 450 DH.
- A rental fleet of 12 diesel cars of 9 CV, three months late: 12 × 1,500 DH = 18,000 DH of tax and 12 × 240 DH = 2,880 DH of penalties, 20,880 DH in total. Paid in January, the same fleet costs 18,000 DH.
Deadlines and penalties
| Situation | When to pay |
|---|---|
| Car already on the road | 1 to 31 January, every year |
| Car put on the road during the year | Within 60 days of the carte grise application receipt |
| Car that loses its exemption during the year | Within 60 days, same rule |
| Vehicle over 9,000 kg | Two equal payments, before the end of February and before the end of August |
Paying late costs a 10% penalty and a 5% surcharge for the first month, then 0.5% for each extra month or part of a month, with a minimum of 100 DH. If a roadside check records the delay in a report, the penalty becomes 100% of the tax and the car can be impounded. The tax code also lowers the 10% penalty to 5% when the payment is less than 30 days late; the calculator keeps the 15% the DGI announces, as an upper bound.
The amounts on this page are those in force in 2026. The 2027 finance law, voted in December 2026, can change them; no change to the vignette had been announced as of October 2026, so check the DGI announcement in January before paying.
Who does not pay the vignette
The tax code exempts electric cars and hybrid cars (electric and combustion), collector cars as defined by the highway code, authorised taxis, vehicles with diplomatic privileges (on condition of reciprocity), used cars bought by car dealers for resale (from purchase to resale, if registered in their name), and ambulances and some public service vehicles. The owner of an exempt car can ask the DGI for an exemption certificate.
Motorcycles, tricycles, quadricycles and farm vehicles are outside the tax altogether. So are cars registered abroad: the vignette applies to vehicles registered in Morocco, so an MRE driving a foreign-registered car during the summer pays none. Once that car is cleared through customs and registered in Morocco, it pays like a car put on the road during the year, within 60 days of the carte grise receipt. Estimate the customs bill first with the car import customs estimator.
How to pay, and the proof to keep
You pay with the carte grise details: at a bank branch, at a cash machine, through e-banking or mobile banking, or at approved payment agencies and on their websites. The windscreen sticker is gone; the receipt (quittance) is your proof during a check, so keep it with the car papers.
The vignette also matters when you sell. No change of ownership can be recorded unless the tax for the current year and the unexpired previous years has been paid, or the exemption proven. The tax covers the car for the whole year even if it changes hands during the year.
For car rental agencies and fleet owners
An agency pays the vignette of every car in the same month, which makes January the heaviest month for cash. Group the fleet by band and fuel, use the "number of identical vehicles" field for each group, then add the lines up. Cars bought during the year are the usual trap: each one has its own 60-day deadline counted from its carte grise receipt, not from January, and the penalty grows every month.
A fleet list with each car's vignette, insurance and inspection dates avoids most penalties. To bill customers, the free invoice generator makes Moroccan invoices with VAT; if you run the agency as an auto-entrepreneur, the auto-entrepreneur tax calculator gives your quarterly tax. To be found by travellers landing in Nador, read how to set up a Google Business Profile in Nador.
Common mistakes
- Typing the engine horsepower instead of the fiscal horsepower: it pushes the car into a higher band and a bill several times larger.
- Thinking a hybrid pays a reduced rate: hybrid and electric cars pay nothing at all.
- Forgetting a car bought, or cleared through customs, during the year: its 60-day clock started at the carte grise receipt.
- Waiting for the last days of January: the penalty starts as soon as 31 January has passed.
- Selling a car with unpaid years: the transfer is blocked until they are paid.