VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #0171/01 0311159
ZNY EEEEE ZZH
R 311159Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 5721

UNCLAS E F T O RABAT 000171 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR A/OPR/OS BEA CAMERON, L/BA DAVID GALLAGHER, 
NEA/MAG AND NEA/EX 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL AMGT ASCH KREC MO
SUBJECT: SCHOOL TAX AGREEMENT UPDATE 
 
¶1. (SBU/NF) Summary: Following completion of consultations 
with Department offices and the five officially supported 
American schools in Morocco, Mission has moved to engage 
senior GOM officials on the issue of concluding a bilateral 
agreement to give the schools legal status and shield them 
from Moroccan taxes, including payroll and social security 
taxes.  Ambassador spoke directly to Prime Minister Jettou 
about the issue, and provided Jettou a follow-on letter with 
a description of what the Mission is seeking, i.e., tax 
treatment of the American schools that provides parity to 
that enjoyed by French and Spanish schools in Morocco.  (Text 
of Ambassador's letter follows in para 10.)  The Prime 
Minister expressed confidence that a solution to the issue of 
the schools' long-term status could be found, and asked to 
meet with the Ambassador to discuss the matter in greater 
detail after he had had an opportunity to review the issue 
with relevant ministries. 
 
¶2. (SBU/NF)  One senior Moroccan businessman, who serves as a 
trustee of one of the schools, suggests that the window of 
opportunity for conclusion of such an agreement could close 
with Jettou's departure from office, which may occur 
following elections later this year (date for the elections 
has not yet been determined, but most likely time frame is 
the fall).  While most of the concerned American schools in 
Morocco that would benefit from an agreement (Rabat, 
Casablanca, Tangiers, George Washington Academy and Marrakech 
schools) report no difficulties with Moroccan officials, our 
initiative comes against the backdrop of intensifying efforts 
by Casablanca tax authorities to collect back payroll taxes 
from the Casablanca American School (CAS).  End Summary. 
 
¶3. (SBU/NF) Building on post's October 30 DVC with Washington 
offices, post used the ensuing six weeks to meet with the 
five concerned American schools for a comprehensive review of 
their specific situations and concerns in preparation for 
moving forward with discussions with Moroccan officials.  As 
expected, the meetings revealed a range of approaches to the 
problem of operating in an environment with no clear legal 
framework, with the schools falling into two broad categories 
regarding the key question of payroll and social security 
taxes.  While all five schools paid Moroccan social security 
taxes for their local Moroccan employees, both the Casablanca 
and Rabat American Schools do so via the Embassy Cooperative 
Association, officially registering their local staff as ECA 
rather than school employees.  Those two schools also do not 
pay Moroccan payroll taxes for either local or expatriate 
employees.  In contrast, the Tangier American School, its 
Marrakech offshoot, and the George Washington Academy (GWA) 
pay both payroll and social security directly for their local 
employees.  The Tangier and Marrakech schools also pay 
Moroccan payroll taxes for their American staff, but they 
make contributions to FICA through their American foundation 
for them, rather than pay Moroccan social security taxes. 
George Washington Academy does not pay either payroll or 
social security taxes for its expatriate employees, but does 
hold back a sum sufficient to cover one year of payroll taxes 
as a reserve. 
 
¶4. (SBU/NF) All the schools agreed that an agreement clearly 
defining and effectively limiting their obligations vis-a-vis 
the Moroccan state is essential to allow them to plan 
effectively for the future, and pressed for any such 
agreement to shield them to the maximum extent possible from 
imposition of Moroccan taxes.  Ideally, both Rabat and 
Casablanca American Schools argued, such an agreement should 
ratify the status quo whereby the schools are effectively 
exempt from Moroccan payroll and social security taxes.  Both 
schools reluctantly conceded that it might prove impossible 
to shield their local Moroccan employees from taxation, but 
they urged that the effort be made nonetheless. 
 
¶5. (SBU)/NF)  Though the schools concurred on the need for an 
agreement, only the Casablanca American School reported any 
effort by Moroccan tax authorities to press for payment of 
payroll taxes for school employees, noting that a September 
2006 tax letter was put off with Congen Casablanca 
assistance.   Indeed, at year's end Casablanca tax 
authorities renewed their efforts to collect allegedly due 
back taxes, sending a letter to the school warning that 
unless payment was made immediately, the 3.35 million USD 
"owed" by the school for payroll taxes for 2002-2005 would 
automatically increase by 10 percent to 3.68 million USD.  No 
such approach has been made to the Rabat American School or 
George Washington Academy.  The American Schools in Tangier 
and Marrakech, which make the payroll tax payments, did 
report efforts by social security inspectors to receive 
formal documentation justifying their refusal to pay Moroccan 
social security taxes. 
 
 
¶6. (SBU/NF) Recognizing that an agreement along the lines 
desired by the schools will require a political decision by 
the Moroccan government, and cannot be secured at a technical 
level (as our earlier negotiations in 2004 demonstrated), 
post's school tax agreement goal team recommended that the 
Ambassador raise the issue with the Prime Minister Jettou, 
himself a trustee of the Casablanca American school. 
 
¶7. (SBU/NF) In a recent conversation in Casablanca with the 
Consul General, a senior and well-connected Casablanca 
businessman who is a trustee of the CAS school board agreed 
with Mission's strategy.  Conclusion of an agreement along 
the lines desired by the U.S. would require a political 
decision, he said, and he warned that involvement of the 
Finance Ministry early in the process would be 
counterproductive, given its exclusive focus on augmenting 
Morocco's collection of tax revenues.  He noted that 
Casablanca Mayor Mohammed Sajid had raised the CAS school tax 
issue with the Prime Minister, and that Jettou had said he 
would "fix it."  This observer agreed that the U.S. should 
press for full exemption of school employees from Moroccan 
taxation at the outset, but conceded that at the end of the 
day it would likely not be possible to shield Moroccan 
national employees.  He speculated that the current pressure 
on the Casablanca American School stems from the fact that 
George Washington Academy is paying tax on its employees, and 
warned that including GWA in an agreement "weakens" the U.S. 
negotiating stance.  He added that it is important that an 
agreement be reached before this fall's elections, as a 
future Moroccan government may not be as "sympathetic" to the 
schools' concerns. 
 
¶8. (SBU/NF) Ambassador Riley approved the goal team's 
recommendation and raised the issue of a bilateral school 
agreement in a phone conversation with Prime Minister, who 
agreed to meet in the near future to discuss the subject in 
depth, after investigating it with relevant ministries. 
Ambassador followed up with a letter setting out in more 
detail U.S. concerns and our desire to ratify the status quo 
via a formal agreement.  Recognizing that the status quo 
varies from school to school, the letter pressed for 
formalization of the regime that has in practice been applied 
to the Rabat and Casablanca American schools, arguing that 
this "unwritten agreement" has served the needs of both 
Morocco and the schools themselves over the course of their 
45-year history.  The Ambassador highlighted the importance 
of the American schools to international investors and the 
support that the U.S. provides them (862,000 USD in one 
recent scholarship program with the Rabat American School) to 
enable Moroccan students to attend for whom the school would 
otherwise be inaccessible.  The letter also drew a parallel 
with the privileges accorded to Spanish and French schools in 
Morocco, noting that while our national systems are 
different, the schools serve the same function, and should 
enjoy similar privileges. 
 
¶9. (SBU/NF) Comment: The ball is now in the Prime Minister's 
court, and we are hopeful that a meeting on the issue will be 
scheduled in the near future.  Once it occurs, we will extend 
our contacts on the subject through relevant parts of the 
Moroccan government.  End Comment. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Text of Ambassador Riley's letter to Prime Minister 
Jettou: 
 
Dear Mr. Prime Minister, 
 
Further to our telephone conversation this morning, I 
appreciate your willingness to meet in the near future to 
discuss the status of the five State Department-supported 
American schools in Morocco. 
 
As you know, since the founding of the Rabat American School 
in 1962, these institutions have played an important role in 
building bridges between the United States and Morocco. 
Their contribution is reflected in the distinguished roster 
of their alumni, including senior American diplomats and many 
high-ranking Moroccan government officials.  Recognizing the 
contribution the schools make to cross-cultural understanding 
this year the U.S. government has granted $862,000 to the 
Rabat American School to enable it to provide scholarships to 
Moroccan students who would not otherwise be able to attend 
the school. 
 
I believe that in this era of globalization and international 
competition for foreign direct investment, the schools play a 
more important role than ever, as leading multinationals are 
often reluctant to invest when there is not a range of 
 
international educational options for their expatriate 
personnel. 
 
I am concerned, however, that the schools' ability to 
continue to fulfill their function may be in jeopardy.  For 
the 45 years of their history, the schools have operated on 
the basis of an unwritten agreement between the U.S. and 
Moroccan governments, which has effectively exempted them 
from payment of a number of Moroccan taxes, thereby enabling 
them to make their education accessible to students not just 
from the international diplomatic and business communities, 
but also to many Moroccan students as well. 
 
Recent efforts by Moroccan tax authorities to enforce payment 
of payroll taxes by one school call into question that 
unwritten agreement.  The U.S. schools agree that a formal 
accord outlining the schools' obligations and status is 
necessary to allow them to plan effectively for the future 
and to grow as institutions. 
 
I believe such an agreement should provide the U.S. schools a 
status similar to that of French and Spanish schools and 
teachers in Morocco.  This would provide the schools with a 
legal personality under Moroccan law and effectively codify 
the unwritten understanding that has governed their operation 
in the past. 
 
I understand that the situation is complicated by the fact 
that the American education system is very different from 
that in France and Spain, given its lack of central 
administration and direction, but believe the schools and 
their personnel should receive similar benefits and 
protections, since they provide the same service. 
 
I look forward to discussing this issue with you in more 
detail in the weeks ahead, but wanted to take the opportunity 
to highlight my concerns in advance of that meeting. 
 
Sincerely, 
Thomas T. Riley 
 
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Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
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Riley