Importing a car under 5 years old into Morocco: rule, exceptions and age calculation

Short answer: for customs clearance by an MRE or a Moroccan resident, ADII states that vehicles five years old or more cannot be cleared, with an exception up to ten years for certain MRE. This age limit is an admissibility rule. It is distinct from the age reduction applied to the value (0%, 10%, 20% or 25%) and from the three-year ageing of the permanent return. Its basis is article 96 of decree no. 2-10-421 (highway code), which ADII takes up in its RDII instruction; however, we have found nowhere the date at which the five years are measured, nor the exact treatment of the fifth birthday: the guide below says what the texts write, for whom, and what remains to be confirmed.

Last verified: 3 October 2026. Published by Ayoub Htioui, publisher of AutoDouane (editorial policy, methodology (FR)). The question-and-answer pages of ADII’s Particuliers portal are not dated; RDII document 30908 was re-read byte for byte on 3 October 2026.

What is the 5-year rule?

Three question-and-answer pages from ADII (two for MRE, one for Moroccan residents clearing a vehicle brought in under temporary admission) contain the same sentence (our translation of the French original): “As identification certificates (required for customs clearance) are no longer issued by the registration centres for vehicles aged five (05) years or more, the latter cannot therefore be cleared.” The MARHABA 2026 circular (6741/311, annex II.2) states the rule the other way round: only vehicles under five years of age are accepted for customs clearance.

The legal basis

ADII’s RDII instruction (document 30815, section XII-11.02.01, “Conditions of admission for homologation”) ties the rule to article 96 of decree no. 2-10-421 issued for the application of law 52-05 on the highway code, “as amended”: admission to individual homologation of imported used vehicles is subject to an age not exceeding five years, with exceptions listed in the same instruction. Order no. 2730-10 on homologation takes up the wording for the homologation application of “imported used vehicles under five years of age”, and NARSA’s “Individual homologation” page lists it the same way. In other words, the age limit is a condition of homologation; it blocks customs clearance because the identification certificate is not issued beyond it.

One word that changes depending on the source. The RDII instruction writes that the age “does not exceed” five years, the question-and-answer pages say that vehicles “five years of age or more” cannot be cleared, and NARSA and the circular speak of “under five years”. These wordings do not place the day of the fifth birthday in the same way: we do not rule on it, and a vehicle a few days short of five years must be confirmed in writing with ADII. The AutoDouane simulator displays, as this limit approaches, only a warning: never an “admissible” or “inadmissible” verdict, and never a block.

Scope not to be exceeded. The question-and-answer pages and circular 6741/311 address MRE and Moroccan residents; the RDII instruction states the rule in general terms for imported used vehicles, with its derogations (gifts to the State, diplomatic vehicles, machines excluded from homologation, etc.). Outside these texts, ask for ADII’s answer before buying.

How is the vehicle’s age calculated?

Two ages must be distinguished.

1. The age that sets the value reduction. The RDII (V.18.02.02, ADII document 30908) applies the coefficients “according to the exact age of the vehicle concerned (the day and the month) from the date of first circulation”. The starting point is therefore the full date of first circulation entered on the registration certificate, not the model year nor the year of manufacture. No general sentence says on which date the age stops; the official examples in circular 5740/200 compare the first circulation with the date on which the vehicle is “declared for release for consumption” (1 January 2018 in the example). That is what our assisted estimate (FR) uses: the declaration date you enter. Age is counted by calendar anniversaries, never in blocks of 365 days.

2. The age of the 5-year limit. Neither the RDII instruction, nor the order, nor NARSA say on which date it is measured (date of the declaration, of entry into Morocco, of the request for the identification certificate…). Do not assume it is the same date as for the reduction. ADII’s MCV simulator does not rule either: its form code only compares age with a limit of ten years for a passenger car (parameter “age = 10” returned by its service) and displays only a note about the five years. Keep a margin and have the date used confirmed in writing before buying a vehicle close to the limit. The starting point remains the first circulation.

Why the customs reduction and the age limit are two different things

The ordinary RDII scale is as follows: under one year, 0%; from 1 year to 2 years, 10%; from 2 years to 3 years, 20%; over 3 years, 25%. The text overlaps at anniversaries (“from 1 year to 2 years”, “from 2 years to 3 years”). We queried the official MCV simulator on 3 October 2026 with controlled dates (same vehicle, only the first circulation date changes): exactly 1 year gives 0%, 1 year and 1 day 10%, exactly 2 years 10%, 2 years and 1 day 20%, 3 years and 1 day 25%. The simulator divides a number of days by 365.25: a period containing a 29 February therefore gives the higher band one day earlier (exactly 3 years, first circulation on 3 October 2023: 1,096 days, 25%). The ADII text mentions neither “365.25” nor a fractional age; it only defines a scale by exact age, with overlapping bands. The public MCV simulator, for its part, computes age as days divided by 365.25 (behaviour observed in its client code, not a legal rule): exactly 1 year or less gives 0%, up to 2 years 10%, up to 3 years 20%, beyond that 25%. AutoDouane reproduces this operational calculation for the ordinary scale; we checked it on 3 October 2026 against 24 controlled dates, including periods containing a 29 February, with the same result in every case. BADR’s behaviour is not shown to be identical: in case of doubt, the MCV and ADII prevail.

A reduction therefore gives no right to clear a vehicle. A vehicle of more than three years has the maximum ordinary rate of 25% while remaining subject to the age limit, and a vehicle under five years is not “exempt”: its reduction depends only on its exact age. See the MCV guide and the calculation of duties.

What exceptions exist for MRE?

The same sources provide for an exception: passenger-car-body vehicles (conduite intérieure) with at most ten years of age and at most nine seats may be authorised for customs clearance, “in accordance with the provisions of the highway code”, if the owner is either a retired MRE who can show an effective stay abroad of at least ten years, or making a permanent return to Morocco. The question-and-answer pages specify that these vehicles may be accepted “for homologation” and thus authorised for customs clearance.

This exception does not apply to all vehicles (passenger-car body, at most nine seats) nor to all MRE. The documents for homologation and registration are described in the guide homologation, NARSA and registration certificate; for the MRE path, see the MRE path. The RDII instruction specifies that this provision “is valid only once in the beneficiary’s lifetime”. The 90% reduction is a different subject, with its own conditions.

Permanent return: how does the 3-year ageing work?

On permanent return, ADII’s FAQ describes a “three-year ageing”: a maximum reduction of 25% on the new-condition value, granted only once, for a passenger car under three years of age.

The bands above are our reading of the whole-year ages given by the FAQ. Here, the exact third anniversary opens the 0% band (“3 years of age and over”), whereas in the MCV simulator’s ordinary scale it stays at 20% when the period does not contain a 29 February (25% otherwise). This scale is a current ADII instruction; example 4 of circular 5740/200, which is older, applies a fixed rate of 25% to a car of 1 to 2 years: the divergence is kept, not erased. This ageing reduces the value; it does not open access to a vehicle of more than five years. Details in the guide to permanent return.

Date examples

Illustration of the mechanism (fictitious dates, calculated by calendar anniversaries, no period contains a 29 February; they say nothing about the 5-year limit):

Official examples from circular 5740/200, for a declaration on 1 January 2018: first circulation on 1 February 2017 (under one year): taxable value equal to the new-condition value; first circulation on 1 December 2015 (between 2 and 3 years): reduction of 20%. A first circulation on a 29 February is accepted by the MCV simulator and treated like any other date (days ÷ 365.25); AutoDouane does the same for the ordinary scale.

Documents and checks before buying

• Note the full date of first circulation on the foreign registration certificate (day, month, year), not the model year.
• For a vehicle close to five years, ask ADII, in writing, for the date used for age and the decision applicable to your situation. The identification certificate, issued by the registration centre, is the document the texts cite as blocking beyond the limit.
• If you are aiming for the ten-year exception, gather the proof of your status (effective stay of at least ten years for a retiree, or proof of permanent return) and check that the vehicle is a passenger-car body, at most nine seats.
• Find the value in the MCV with the exact date of first circulation. The lists of documents are in the guide to documents by regime; the customs guide organises your questions.

Official sources

• RDII V.18.02.02 (ADII document 30908): ordinary scale and “exact age (the day and the month)”.
• RDII (ADII document 30815), XII-11.02.01: conditions of admission for homologation, article 96 of decree no. 2-10-421, derogations.
• ADII circular 6741/311 of 5 June 2026, annex II.2: five-year limit and ten-year exception (MRE).
• NARSA, individual homologation: “imported used vehicles under five years of age”.
• ADII MCV simulator: controlled dates of 3 October 2026.
• ADII FAQ 387: permanent-return ageing.
• ADII circular 5740/200 of 28 December 2017: worked examples.
• Question-and-answer pages of ADII’s Particuliers portal on clearing a vehicle registered abroad (douane.gov.ma, captures of 2 October 2026).

The official rules prevail over this explanation. What remains open: the date at which the five-year limit is measured, the treatment of the day of the fifth birthday and the application of the rule to situations not cited.

Simulating duties and taxes

With your MCV value, the assisted estimate (FR) calculates the exact age, the band and the ordinary reduction when you enter the reference value and the two dates; it leaves UNKNOWN anything that is not established and never assesses admissibility. See also the sources (FR) and report a correction (FR).

Before buying, the checklist puts the date of first circulation as its first point, and the used-car guide shows where age comes into the path.