An auto-entrepreneur invoices their customers, but not under the same formal regime as an ordinary business: article 145-XI of the General Tax Code expressly sets aside the application of article 145 — the one listing the mandatory invoice details — for people under the auto-entrepreneur regime. They charge no VAT, they are taxed at 0.5% or 1% of cash collected, and beyond 80,000 DH collected from a single customer for services, that customer must withhold 30% at source on the excess.
The rest of this article covers what the exclusion from article 145 really changes, why a proper invoice is still needed, the ceilings, the rates, the 80,000 DH rule many sites describe wrongly, the activities excluded from the regime, and the 2026 change.
What the tax code does not impose on an auto-entrepreneur
This is the most badly reported point on the subject. Article 145-XI is unambiguous: « the provisions of this article do not apply to individual taxpayers whose professional income is determined under the unified professional contribution regime or the auto-entrepreneur regime ».
Article 145 is the whole formalism of the invoice: the continuous series, the eight mandatory details, the duty to equip oneself with an invoicing software system. None of that is imposed on an auto-entrepreneur by that text. The countless « auto-entrepreneur invoice templates » that present those details as a legal obligation have the wrong regime in mind.
Why a serious invoice is still needed
The reason lies not in your obligations but in your customer's. Article 146 of the tax code requires every business to have its purchases from a supplier subject to the business tax « actually take place » and be « justified by a proper and probative invoice made out in the name of the party concerned ».
In other words: your business customer needs a document that holds up in their accounts. An auto-entrepreneur who sends an amount by message loses the customers who keep accounts — that is, the best ones. In practice, reproducing the details of an ordinary invoice is therefore the right decision, not because a rule compels you, but because it is what your customer has to be able to file:
- Your full identity and contact details.
- The customer, their address and their ICE — the common business identifier where the customer is a business.
- An invoice number and a date.
- The detail of the services or goods — nature, quantity, unit price, total.
- A note that VAT does not apply — to spare an accountant from hunting for a missing VAT line.
The ceilings: 500,000 and 200,000 dirhams
The regime applies by election, and article 42 ter sets its first condition: annual cash collected must not exceed
- 500,000 DH for commercial, industrial and craft activities;
- 200,000 DH for service providers.
Two words matter in that sentence. « Annual », and above all « collected »: what is measured is money actually received, not the amount invoiced. An invoice issued in December and paid in January counts for the year it is collected.
The rates: 0.5% or 1%
Article 73-III sets the income tax owed by an auto-entrepreneur, computed directly on cash collected:
- 0.5% of cash collected not exceeding 500,000 DH, for commercial, industrial and craft activities.
- 1% of cash collected not exceeding 200,000 DH, for service providers.
Two details the text adds and that are often forgotten. First, « this amount of tax is increased by a complementary duty » set out in a table in the tax code: the headline rate is therefore not quite the final cost. Second, these levies are in full discharge of income tax — once paid, the corresponding income is not taxed again on the scale.
The 80,000 DH rule: services only
This is where online guides contradict each other most, yet the text is explicit. Article 42 bis provides that « where annual turnover from services performed for a single customer exceeds eighty thousand (80,000) dirhams, the excess is subject to income tax by way of withholding at source operated by that customer ». The rate referred to is that of article 73-II-G: 30%.
Article 45 bis-II confirms it by defining the excess: the share of annual turnover above 80,000 DH for a single customer « in respect of services ».
Three practical consequences follow:
- A purely commercial activity is not concerned by this withholding: the text targets services.
- The threshold is counted per customer, not on the yearly total. Two customers at 70,000 DH trigger nothing; a single customer at 150,000 DH triggers withholding on 70,000 DH.
- The customer operates the withholding, not you. You therefore receive a net amount, which is one more reason to track cash collected per customer through the year rather than discovering it on a transfer.
Activities excluded from the regime
Article 42 ter-III refers to a decree for the list of excluded professions, and that decree — adopted in April 2015 and reproduced in the tax code — lists around forty. Several concern trade directly:
- Importing traders and exporting traders.
- Goods commission agents and trading agents.
- Dealers in gold, silver and jewellery, wholesale and retail alike.
- Tobacconists, booksellers, printers, publishers.
- Hoteliers, cinema operators, driving-school operators.
To these are added the regulated professions — lawyers, notaries, bailiffs, doctors, surgeons, pharmacists, vets, architects, chartered accountants, statutory auditors, surveyors, topographers and customs brokers, among others. Before choosing the status, that is the list to check in the decree, not on a forum.
Social security is not optional
Article 42 ter sets, on the same footing as the turnover ceiling, a second condition of access to the regime: « The taxpayer is required to join the social security scheme provided for by the legislation in force. »
It is therefore not a benefit to switch on later: it is a condition of the election itself.
The 2026 change: an email address
This is the only recent change that touches auto-entrepreneurs directly within article 145, and it is discreet. Paragraph XI now begins with « Subject to the provisions of paragraph X above » — an amendment made by finance law no. 50-25 for 2026.
Paragraph X states that « taxpayers subject to the taxes, duties and levies in force must hold an email address of their choice ». The reservation therefore has a precise effect: the auto-entrepreneur stays outside the invoicing formalism of article 145, but the duty to hold an email address does apply to them.
Frequently asked questions
Does an auto-entrepreneur charge VAT? No. They are taxed on cash collected at the rates of article 73-III, so the invoice carries no VAT line. It is worth saying so on the document to spare the customer a pointless search.
Which details are mandatory on an auto-entrepreneur's invoice? Those of article 145-III are not imposed on them, since article 145-XI sets that text aside for them. In practice they still use the usual details, because their business customer must justify the purchase with a proper invoice within the meaning of article 146.
What ceilings must not be exceeded? 500,000 DH of annual cash collected for commercial, industrial and craft activities, and 200,000 DH for services.
Where does the often-mentioned 30% withholding come from? From article 42 bis: beyond 80,000 DH collected from a single customer in respect of services, the excess bears withholding at source operated by that customer, at the 30% rate of article 73-II-G. It does not target commercial activities.
Are all activities eligible? No. A decree adopted under article 42 ter-III excludes around forty professions, including importing and exporting traders, goods commission agents, jewellery dealers, hoteliers and most regulated professions.
