Airbnb commission in Morocco: who takes what?

It is commonly stated that Airbnb takes “around 3%” of a host’s income. Airbnb’s own help centre, meanwhile, states that most hosts pay 15.5% — recorded on 28 August 2026. Both figures circulate side by side, and an owner who budgets on the first is out by more than fivefold. Both figures are correct: they describe two different fee structures. But one of them is being withdrawn, and the deadline depends on where the host is established rather than on where the property sits — for a host established outside the European Economic Area, and Morocco is not part of it, that date is 15 September 2026. This article separates what Airbnb takes from what a concierge company takes, establishes which of the two structures applies to a Marrakech villa or riad, and puts a figure on what the switch changes for an owner’s net. It is not about the cost of a stay: the question asked here is an owner’s.

What commission does Airbnb actually charge in Morocco?

Two structures coexist, and the rate moves from 3% to 15.5% between them. Under the shared-fee structure, the host pays 3% of the subtotal and the guest separately pays a service fee of 14.1% to 16.5%. Under the host-only fee structure, the host pays 15.5% and the guest pays nothing. These figures are Airbnb’s own, help centre article 1857, recorded on 28 August 2026. The subtotal that serves as the base covers the nightly rate and the fees charged by the host, excluding service fees and taxes. Neither rate is specific to Morocco: Airbnb publishes no Moroccan price list, and the only national exceptions it names are Brazil and Mexico, at 4% and 16%. The useful question is therefore not what Airbnb takes in Morocco, but which of the two structures applies to your listing.

One riad can therefore carry 3% or 15.5% without a single line of its listing having changed country: what switches is its fee structure, not a Moroccan price list.

Why does the 3% figure no longer describe most managed villas and riads?

Because it turns on the situation of the listing rather than the country, and two of the three situations that impose the host-only fee are common in Marrakech. That structure, Airbnb writes, “is mandatory for certain hosts, including traditional hospitality businesses (such as hotels, serviced apartments and others), hosts who use property management software, and those operating in a country subject to this fee structure” (article 1857, recorded on 28 August 2026). A registered guest house falls under the first; a property placed with a concierge company falls under the second, because synchronising the calendars of Airbnb, Booking and direct reservations runs through management software, and that connection triggers the switch. Loftely wrote on 22 July 2026 that hosts connected to such software had already switched on 27 October 2025. For those listings, the 3% belongs to the past.

What exactly happens on 15 September 2026?

The shared-fee structure disappears for everyone, and the deadline follows where the host is established, not where the property is. The Airbnb community centre states that the deadline for setting your prices is 15 September for hosts outside the European Economic Area and 13 October for those resident within it (recorded on 28 August 2026). The announcement was made on 9 July 2026, and Loftely restated it on 22 July, describing a switch that becomes mandatory “no later than 13 October 2026” for hosts within the European Economic Area. Morocco does not belong to that area. An owner living in Marrakech therefore falls under 15 September; a French owner, not resident in Morocco, falls under 13 October for the same listing. Two co-owners of one riad can hold two different deadlines, and the practical consequence is the same in both cases: the advertised price has to be reviewed first.

What does doing nothing before the deadline cost?

Around 13% of the net per night, because the advertised price does not move on its own. The calculation runs on Airbnb’s published rates alone, article 1857, recorded on 28 August 2026. On a listing at 1,000 MAD a night, the shared-fee structure left the host 970 MAD — 1,000 less 3% — and had the guest pay roughly 1,150 MAD, taking a guest fee of 15%, the midpoint of the published 14.1% to 16.5% band. Under the host-only structure, the guest pays 1,000 MAD and the host receives 845 MAD. The loss is 125 MAD a night, or 12.9% of the previous net. The adjustment is arithmetic: recovering 970 MAD net means advertising 1,148 MAD. The guest will barely register it: they were paying roughly 1,150 MAD, they will pay 1,148 MAD. This is not a price rise but a fee changing sides, and the advertised price has to absorb it.

Does Moroccan VAT sit on top of the Airbnb commission?

The two public sources available do not say the same thing, and the gap is worth a fifth of a 15.5% line. The Airbnb help centre states, recorded on 28 August 2026, that “Airbnb service fees are subject to 20% VAT” in Morocco (article 436). The Marrakech Expert portal describes a finer mechanism, anchored in named texts: decree no. 2.25.862 of 27 November 2025, published in Official Bulletin no. 7464, made under article 115 bis of the Moroccan tax code as introduced by the 2024 finance act, and in force since June 2026. On that reading, Airbnb Ireland registers with the Moroccan tax authority, verifies the tax status of each host, and collects VAT only for hosts domiciled in Morocco for tax purposes. The question is therefore not whether VAT applies in Morocco, but where you are domiciled for tax.

Own name or company: does the ownership structure change the answer?

It changes it entirely, according to the source that describes the mechanism. A non-resident owner holding in their own name would sit outside the scope of Moroccan VAT on foreign digital services: “real cost of the commission: 15.5%, with no additional VAT”, writes Marrakech Expert, recorded on 28 August 2026. A Moroccan company registered for VAT would instead fall under the reverse charge: it declares and pays over the tax on the commission itself, at 10% in principle for tourist accommodation, the 20% rate on intermediation services remaining, the same source writes, “a possible reading, to be confirmed”. We publish both versions without choosing between them. Marrakech Expert is an independent information portal which states itself that it is neither an accountancy practice nor a licensed tax adviser, and settling the point is an accountant’s work, not a blog article’s.

Does the Airbnb commission sit inside your concierge company’s base?

That depends on the mandate, and the switch multiplies the weight of that line by five. A management commission is calculated either on the advertised amount or on what the platform actually pays out, and the gap between those two definitions stayed small while Airbnb took 3%. Not any more. On a month at 30,000 MAD of accommodation, Airbnb used to take 900 MAD and now takes 4,650. A management rate of 20%, the most widespread in Marrakech at our survey of 21 August 2026, costs 6,000 MAD on the advertised amount in both cases; on the actual payout it cost 5,820 MAD yesterday and costs 5,070 MAD today. The gap between the two bases therefore moves from 180 to 930 MAD a month, at a strictly identical rate. That is the finding of our 21 August survey on how a Marrakech concierge company is paid, amplified.

The base now weighs more than the rate: comparing two offers on the percentage alone means comparing two figures that do not rest on the same sum. The rates published by the rest of the Marrakech market are recorded in our reference article on what Marrakech concierge companies charge.

Should your concierge company warn you before the deadline?

No rule obliges it to, and that is what makes it a useful test. An owner living 3,000 kilometres from their property will not see the switch happen: it produces no letter, no alert, no new line on the statement — only a lower net from the next booking onwards. The person holding the listing does see it. An agent doing the job flags the deadline, proposes the adjustment to the advertised price and documents the effect on the net before it happens; one who stays quiet leaves the owner to discover the gap a quarter later. On our side, the commission is calculated on net rental income, excluding platform commissions: an owner does not pay commission on a sum they never received. The detail of that base sits on our price list, not in an article.

What should you check before 15 September?

Three points, and none of them needs an expert. First: which structure is my listing under? It reads off the host dashboard, on the service fee line — if the guest no longer pays a separate fee, the switch has already happened. Second: has my advertised price been adjusted? A price left untouched costs around 13% of the net per night, and the adjustment tool Airbnb provides during the transition does not apply itself. Third, and the most expensive to neglect: which base does my concierge company bill on? The answer belongs in the mandate, in writing rather than agreed verbally, and it is now worth close to 11,000 MAD a year on a property at 30,000 MAD of monthly accommodation. Tourist tax, for its part, is collected from the guest and paid to the commune: it has never formed part of a commission base.

Villas Ambar has managed prestige villas and riads in Marrakech on behalf of their owners for seventeen years, and a switch of this kind is precisely what an absent owner cannot watch for from Europe: it announces itself in no letter. What following a listing covers — the fee structure, the advertised price, the monthly statement — is described on our Airbnb property management in Marrakech page, and the rest of the job on our villa and riad property management page. If you do not know which structure your listing is under, or which base your mandate bills on, write to us.

Would you like to know where your listing stands before the deadline? We provide a free assessment, with no commitment, within 48 hours.