Members of the business community have started receiving notifications from the tax authorities inviting them to submit a declaration of cessation of activity.
Companies that have not filed a tax return or paid taxes for three consecutive financial years are deemed to have ceased all activity. Their continued presence in the Trade Register and the tax authorities’ registers does not change their status. They are therefore kept on the taxpayer register, identified and subject to automatic taxation precisely for not having filed a tax return for the slightest transaction, in accordance with the provisions of Article 228 of the General Tax Code (CGI).
The procedure involves determining a tax based on the information available to the tax authorities. The tax assessed will increase the debts of the inactive company.
“ It would be very difficult for a structure to continue operating as an inactive company. When the tax authorities note the issuance of an invoice by or on behalf of an inactive company, the corresponding deduction is not allowed. Moreover, if the company becomes inactive, its invoices no longer pass through. Furthermore, when filing VAT returns, the deduction is no longer allowed and the Simpl system indicates that the company in question is inactive. This type of company carries a significant tax risk, as they are generally the main suppliers of fictitious invoices ”; explains Mohamadi El Yacoubi, a tax consultant.
Often left dormant by their managers, inactive companies do not disappear from the tax authorities’ radar. On the contrary, they are closely scrutinized because they represent a high risk in terms of tax fraud and fictitious invoicing. Between heavy penalties, adjustments and loss of credibility, their artificial maintenance can quickly turn into a tax trap for partners and managers.
Once a structure is registered in the register of inactive companies, it is under the supervision of the tax administration. As soon as it finds that it has carried out a transaction in the form of a purchase or sale or that it has actually resumed an activity subject to tax, it removes it from the register of inactive companies and initiates the ex officio taxation procedure in accordance with the provisions of Article 228 bis of the CGI.
« The procedure consists of sending the taxpayer an initial letter inviting them to file a tax return for the non-prescribed years within 30 days. Otherwise, (The tax administration sends the taxpayer a second notification with tax bases and issue of the role on the notified bases, accompanied by the sanctions . The tax is only issued in the absence of filing of the declarations following the reminder by the Administration. Furthermore, the taxpayer can also notify the administration of the resumption of its activities and subscribe to the missing declarations «, said Mohamed Chorfi, chartered accountant and trainer. When it is not the taxpayer who notifies the tax administration of the resumption of its activities, it may be the tax administration itself which notes that the company has carried out operations or resumed the exercise of a taxable activity. In these conditions, the Tax Administration removes the company from the register of inactive companies and initiates the procedure of ex officio taxation as provided for by Qrticle 228.
Hassan EL ARIF