A private-sector employee in Morocco bears 6.74% in social contributions and the employer 21.09%, but the two percentages sit on different bases: two branches are capped at 6,000 dirhams of monthly salary, the other three apply to the whole gross. Above the ceiling, the rate the employee actually carries drops well below 6.74%.
This guide is informational and does not replace a ruling from CNSS (Caisse nationale de sécurité sociale, the national social-security fund). For a specific case, contact your CNSS office or a chartered accountant.
The rate table
Rates published by CNSS under “Barèmes et taux de cotisation” on its Paiement de vos cotisations sociales page. They apply to any company whatever its activity, except for sea fishermen.
| Benefit category | Base | Employer share | Employee share | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family benefits | Actual salaries, no ceiling | 6.40% | none | 6.40% |
| Short-term social benefits | Salaries capped at 6,000 MAD | 1.05% | 0.52% | 1.57% |
| Long-term social benefits | Salaries capped at 6,000 MAD | 7.93% | 3.96% | 11.89% |
| Compulsory health insurance (AMO) | Actual salaries, no ceiling | 4.11% | 2.26% | 6.37% |
| Vocational training tax | Actual salaries, no ceiling | 1.60% | none | 1.60% |
| Total | 21.09% | 6.74% | 27.83% |
Verification date. These rates were read on the CNSS page itself. The cnss.ma site was unreachable from our machine on 7 August 2026, so the version consulted is the archived copy of that page dated 25 March 2025. The totals it gives, 21.09% and 6.74%, match those published by Moroccan payroll references for 2026, which indicates no rate has changed since. Confirm on cnss.ma before any contractual use.
What each branch covers
Family benefits. Family allowances paid for dependent children. Funded by the employer alone, on the whole salary.
Short-term social benefits. Sickness, accident and maternity daily allowances, and death benefits. This branch includes 0.57% for the indemnité pour perte d’emploi (IPE, the partial unemployment benefit), split 0.38% on the employer and 0.19% on the employee. That is the line funding partial compensation after involuntary job loss.
Long-term social benefits. Old-age pension, disability pension, survivors’ pension. The heaviest branch, and the one that determines your future pension. See the guide to CNSS retirement.
AMO. Basic medical cover. No ceiling, so the contribution keeps rising with salary. See the guide to your AMO rights.
Vocational training tax. It funds vocational training and passes through CNSS, but it is not a social contribution: it opens no individual right for the employee. See the OFPPT glossary entry.
The 6,000 dirham ceiling changes everything
Only the short-term and long-term branches are capped, at 6,000 dirhams of monthly salary per employee. Family allowances, AMO and the vocational training tax apply to actual salary with no limit.
The direct consequence: above 6,000 dirhams gross, each extra dirham is charged at only 2.26% on the employee side (AMO alone) and 12.11% on the employer side (family allowances, AMO, training tax). The 6.74% in the table is a sum of rates applied to different bases, not an effective rate.
| Monthly gross salary | Employee contributions | Effective employee rate |
|---|---|---|
| 4,000 MAD | 269.60 MAD | 6.74% |
| 6,000 MAD | 404.40 MAD | 6.74% |
| 10,000 MAD | 494.80 MAD | 4.95% |
| 12,000 MAD | 540.00 MAD | 4.50% |
| 20,000 MAD | 720.80 MAD | 3.60% |
The effective rate tracks the nominal rate only up to the ceiling, then it comes apart.
Worked example on 12,000 MAD gross
The same employee as in the guide to the income tax scale: 12,000 MAD gross a month, private sector, no special exemption.
Payslip deductions (employee share)
- Long term, 3.96% on 6,000 = 237.60 MAD
- Short term, 0.52% on 6,000 = 31.20 MAD
- AMO, 2.26% on 12,000 = 271.20 MAD
- Total withheld: 540.00 MAD
Employer cost (employer share)
- Family benefits, 6.40% on 12,000 = 768.00 MAD
- Short term, 1.05% on 6,000 = 63.00 MAD
- Long term, 7.93% on 6,000 = 475.80 MAD
- AMO, 4.11% on 12,000 = 493.20 MAD
- Vocational training tax, 1.60% on 12,000 = 192.00 MAD
- Employer total: 1,992.00 MAD
Total employer cost: 13,992.00 MAD for a gross salary of 12,000 MAD, that is 16.6% above the gross figure written in the contract.
That 540.00 MAD employee share leaves taxable salary before income tax is computed: article 59 of the Code général des impôts makes deductible both the withholdings that build up a pension (the long-term branch) and contributions to Moroccan social-welfare and social-security bodies for short-term benefits.
The base: what contributions are calculated on
CNSS puts it without ambiguity: contributions are assessed on all remuneration received by people covered by the scheme, including allowances, bonuses, gratuities and any other benefit in cash or in kind, plus any sum received directly or through a third party as a tip.
An annual bonus, a thirteenth month, a valued benefit in kind: all of it enters the base. An employer who pays part of the remuneration off the payslip is under-declaring, and it is the employee who pays for that at retirement.
Two exemptions worth knowing
Partial AMO exemption. A company that already had basic group medical cover with an insurer, a mutual society or an internal fund before AMO started pays only the 1.85% solidarity rate, under article 114 of law no. 65-00 on the basic medical cover code. The company must return form ref. 325-1-03 “Attestation de bénéfice d’une couverture médicale” to CNSS every year, completed and stamped by the insurer.
Vocational training tax exemption. It covers embassies and diplomatic missions, and mining companies subject to the Mining Vocational Training Fund, on production of proof of mining activity.
Special case: sea fishermen
Contributions are assessed on the fishing boat’s gross takings rather than on a salary:
| Vessel type | General scheme | AMO scheme |
|---|---|---|
| Trawlers | 4.65% of the catch sale proceeds | 1.36% of the catch sale proceeds |
| Sardine boats, longliners, small craft (artisanal fishing) | 6.00% of the catch sale proceeds | 1.70% of the catch sale proceeds |
Payment, deadlines and penalties
The employer owes CNSS the whole contribution, employer and employee shares together, and is responsible for paying it. An employee who sees the deduction on a payslip cannot conclude the money reached CNSS: the DAMANCOM filing is what counts. Check your statement on macnss.ma.
Payment is made through a bordereau de paiement des cotisations (BPC, the contributions payment slip), for each period and each affiliation. The BPC carries a structured reference identifying the year, the month and the nature of the payment.
Late payment:
- General scheme: 3% of the contributions for the first month or part month late, then 1% for each additional month.
- AMO scheme: 1% for each month late.
Sources and verification
- CNSS, “Paiement de vos cotisations sociales” page, Barèmes et taux de cotisation section: the five-branch table, the ceiling, the IPE split, exemptions, sea fishermen, late-payment penalties. Official CNSS page, consulted on 7 August 2026 in its archived version of 25 March 2025, the site being unreachable that day: cnss.ma.
- CNSS, “Comment s’effectue le calcul des cotisations CNSS”: definition of the contribution base. Same access caveat.
- Code général des impôts 2026, article 59, on the deductibility of employee contributions: CGI 2026, PDF, read on 7 August 2026.
The rates above come from the CNSS table, not from a consultancy summary. We could not confirm the absence of change against a live CNSS page on 7 August 2026, and that is the one reservation attached to this guide.
Further reading
- Gross to net salary calculator, contributions and income tax itemised
- Guide: Morocco’s income tax scale on salary, what stays taxable after contributions
- Guide: getting a CNSS registration number, without which none of this accrues
- Guide: your AMO rights as an employee
- Guide: CNSS retirement, age and pension, what the long-term branch pays for
- Guide: understanding your Moroccan payslip
- CNSS glossary entry, OFPPT glossary entry, CIMR glossary entry
- Official portal: cnss.ma