Working remotely, from Morocco.

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You can lose everything with the auto-entrepreneur status

The auto-entrepreneur status is one of the easiest ways of getting started and making your work legal in Morocco. It’s also one of the cheapest options (tax wise). But isn’t this too good to be true? Hmm, indeed! The auto-entrepreneur status can make you lose all your belongings too! How? Let’s see. Auto-entrepreneur status hidden…

Already an employee? Can you get the auto-entrepreneur status anyway?

If you are an employee and want to have some income on the side either as freelancing, selling online, etc… The auto-entrepreneur status is a good idea! But, can you be an employee and an auto-entrepreneur at the same time? That’s what we’ll see today! The simple answer is: it all depends on your employee…

Roaming or a local SIM card? What’s the best option?

If you are a remote worker, a nomad, or a traveler in general, you know how crucial it is to have a reliable Internet connection. No one likes to depend on a public WiFi to make a last minute reservation, check an itinerary, or find an email. It’s just pure pain. But what is a…

Auto-entrepreneur’s new 30% tax explained

If you have been following the new 2023 financial law, it was So there are two things you need to know: So, from an auto-entrepreneur perspective, nothing is changing. The new 30% rate is paid by the client and not the auto-entrepreneur. But why? The reason for this change is that Moroccan companies were using…

Can you pay rent using your company in Morocco?

This is one of the most asked questions in my email and DMs: Can I pay rent using my company? And that’s a valid question. With rents skyrocketing, paying it using your company is a good idea. So, the short answer is yes, you can pay your rent using your company. But, it’s a complicated…

Can you pay your SaaS or software purchases using your company?

Nearly all jobs require some kind of software. Either a one-time purchase, or a subscription model like productivity apps, design software, etc. While these apps tend to be cheap, their cost adds up really quickly. If you’re a designer or a software developer, you may find yourself paying 3/4 apps every month to do your…

5 tips to reduce your phone addiction (for iOS)

This age is filled with digital distractions, and the first in the podium are our phone. Those little computers we carry everywhere beg for our attention and they receive it more than 2,600 times a day! If you are shocked by this number as I am, here are some tips to reduce your phone addiction.…

Airbnb vs hotels? Why I don’t use Airbnb anymore

Picking an Airbnb or a hotel for your travel is a personal choice for sure. And to be fair, sometimes you don’t have a choice especially if you’re visiting a remote area. But what to choose if you have the choice? Airbnb vs hotels! Here’s my take. It’s been a while since I booked an…

Can you get a mortgage as a freelancer or remote worker?

I get this question a lot, and it’s a legit one! As a freelancer, or remote worker, can you get a mortgage easily? And if so, what are the rates? The answer is “it’s complicated”. So, let me explain why before continuing! It’s all in your new “status” In theory, when you work as a…

4 daily pointers to structure your day

If you worked from an office for a long time, you’re now used to the fact that you have a clearly defined schedule. But when you join the remote world, there is no such schedule. This can be disorienting and stressful. What should you plan? When? And how to get the hang of it? After…

The biggest challenge of working remotely

You’ve been hearing about this remote working craze going around. It comes with different flavors like work from home, nomading, work from coffee shops, etc. But it sounds too good to be true! So, what’s the catch? What’s the challenge of working remotely? Some say the catch is losing the socializing part of working from…

How to be productive as a team even if you’re not async

Working in an async environment is productive for sure. But what if your team/company isn’t working asynchronously? Can you still achieve productivity with these settings? Or should you join an async company to be productive? I believe every team can be productive, async or not. But it needs some discipline, and buy-in from the team…

Brainstorming is broken, try this method instead

Brainstorming is one of the most used methods nowadays. Companies use it to find “creative solutions” to problems. Startups to find new features to build. And teams to find their next team-building activity. A method as widespread as brainstorming should be powerful, right? Or are we part of a big misunderstanding? According to a meta-analysis*,…

5 cues to switch your brain into work mode

It’s common knowledge now that the office is for work, and our home is for everything else. But what happens if you need to work from the same place you use for leisure or sleep? Should you fight the sleep, or trick your brain into work mode? I’ll bet on the second option. By default,…

Advice for implementing time blocking in your work

You have a lot of interruptions in your work and you are thinking of time blocking as a way to get things done? At the same time, you aren’t sure where to start or how to bring it up with your team? This post will help you implement time blocking in your work. I’ve been…

How much time should you block for meaningful work?

If you can’t get things done due to the interruptions? Time blocking may be the solution you’re looking for. But how much time should you block? Is 30 min enough? Or are we talking about hours? Well, it depends on the type of task at hand but in general, we need at least one hour…

Part of too many Slack channels? Here’s what you can do about it

There is a saying in Automattic that goes: “There is always a Slack channel you can join”, and that’s true at any moment! Keeping up with Slack channels is like keeping up with the Kardashians, it’s a never ending drama. But let’s understand how we ended up here… You know what drives our excessive checking…

Knowledge workers’ first enemy and how to fight back

As a knowledge worker, what’s your enemy? Hmm, I expect to hear something like loneliness, boredom, interruptions, lack of motivation, etc. Well, those are all valid answers, but let me tell you, there is an even bigger one. An enemy hiding in plain sight. An enemy that’s affecting you and those around you. An enemy…

How much time does it take to build a productivity system?

Creating a productivity system is hard for sure. The road is filled with trial and error, small wins, and headaches when things aren’t going as planned. In the end, how much time does it take to build your productivity system? I don’t want to break your heart or your will, but it takes months or…

3 free resources to learn the GTD method

GTD, or Get Things Done, is a productivity method created by David Allen and rests on the idea of capturing information, clarifying the usage, organizing, and finally engaging or doing! If you’re curious to learn more about the GTD method, here are the best free resources to learn: The Get Things Done (GTD) book The…

KoWork Anfa Casablanca – coworking space review

If you’re in Casablanca and looking for a co-working space, this post is for you. KoWork Anfa is a co-working space located in the Anfa district, specifically the Anfa boulevard. The Google Maps link is a little off, the entrance is in a small street nearby. The space is clean and well located. KoWork Anfa…

Commons Zerktouni Casablanca – coworking space review

If you’re in Casablanca and looking for a co-working space, this post is for you. Commons Zerktouni Casablanca is a coworking space located in the Mers Sultan district. Commons Zerktouni Casablanca review Price The prices for co-working spaces in Casablanca are the same, more or less. If you want a hot desk, you should expect…

KoWork Onomo Massira Casablanca – coworking space review

If you’re in Casablanca and looking for a co-working space, this post is for you. KoWork Onomo Massira is a coworking space located in the Anfa district, specifically part of the Onomo hotel. The weird thing to keep in mind is you’ll be working from a hotel room turned into a coworking space. This coworking…

Le 133 Casablanca – coworking space review

If you’re in Casablanca and looking for a co-working space, this post is for you. Le 133 is a co-working space located in the Anfa district, specifically the Ziraoui boulevard. It’s spacious, clean, and well located. Close to a MacDonald’s, a supermarket, and the Hassan 2 mosque. Le 133 review Price The prices for co-working…

The problem with hybrid work

Hybrid work is making the news these days thanks to COVID and lockdown. Some are calling it the future of work, and others started working on software to make it possible at scale. But is it really the future? I’ve been following the remote space for more than 8 years, and I’ve been working remotely…

You’ve scheduled time for work, but have you scheduled time for play?

Whenever we think about productivity, we think of it in a professional context: Scheduling work, tasks, calls, focus time, etc. But what about leisure time? Do we spend it productively as our work time? What about attending a cultural event, sightseeing, and social gatherings? Are they scheduled too? I think productivity and personal finance have…

5 reasons why your new productivity plan is not working

Creating a productivity plan is hard for sure. The road is filled with trial and error, small wins, and headaches when things aren’t going as planned. So what makes it hard in the first place? And how can we streamline the process? Here are 5 reasons why we fail at creating a productivity plan that…

Maintaining your to-do lists

It’s a Monday morning and you have a new resolution: Using a to-do app. You download the best-rated app currently, create projects for each area of your life, add your lists of tasks, reminders, and everything… You are heavily invested and committed to making it work this time! It’s a resolution after all, right? But…

remote.ma + Commons partnership

As remote workers, we have the chance to work from anywhere we want: our homes, co-working spaces, the beach… You name it. If you’re one of those who like to work from co-working spaces, and if you’re based in Casablanca/Rabat or visiting one of these cities, I have something for you! Remote.ma is excited to…

Balancing chores and errands with your daily remote job

You work from home but you feel you work long hours? A few chores here and there drag your work? Working a little longer because you had a few things to take care of during the day?… If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Of course, having flexible hours means you can work whenever you…

Should you work fixed hours, even if you have a flexible schedule?

The beauty of having a flexible schedule, when you are a freelancer, remote worker, or consultant, is being able to work whenever you like. When traveling, you can spend the whole day touring and working at night. Or maybe working in the morning and night, and enjoying the evenings. Whatever you want, it’s your call.…

Investing in Morocco: Retirement Plans

Retirement plans are another way of investing in Morocco, especially for the long term (well, technically, very long term). This way of investing is also known as a good way of reducing your taxes (we’ll see why). When I say retirement plan, I’m talking about private plans created by banks and/or insurance companies. There are…

2022 Moroccan finance law: New solidarity tax

When Morocco was facing COVID in 2020, a new “corrective” finance law was introduced to help with COVID-related expenses. One of the “corrective” measures was introducing a “solidarity tax” (ie, helping with COVID-expense) on individuals earning more than 20.000 MAD per month, and companies making more than 1 million MAD in profit. With the new…

Investing in Morocco: OPCVM

OPCVM is a way of investing in Morocco and is an acronym for “Organisme de Placement Collectif en Valeurs Mobilières” which means a collective organization for investing. In plain English, it means a financial institution that gets money from different people and invests it in the stock market following pre-defined allocation rules. What I mean…

Investing in Morocco: Stock Market (Bourse de Casablanca)

If you want to invest in the stock market, and want to know how you can buy stocks in Morocco, this post is for you! If you’re looking for other investing approaches, see our page about investing in Morocco. Returns Shares price changes Like any stock market, it’s hard to quantify if your shares will…

2022 Moroccan finance law: Proportional tax (IS)

A new year, a new update to the finance law! While I won’t cover every change, I’ll at least cover those affecting freelancers and remote workers. The first change affecting us is the proportional IS (Import sur la Société). Before, this tax was progressive. And it’s better explained via an example: Benefits (MAD)ISLess than 300.00010%Between…

Investing in Morocco: Compte sur Carnet

“Compte sur Carnet” is a way of investing in Morocco by putting your money in a specific account, and getting a fixed return each quarter. Think of it as a savings account. You can get a “Compte sur Carnet” from your bank and it will be tied to your normal account. This way, you can…

Moroccans: How much money can you spend on international e-shopping in 2022?

Every year or two, Morocco updates its laws regarding international spending for Moroccans. As a Moroccan resident or an international resident in Morocco, you don’t have the right to spend more than a specific amount of USD/EUR (or really, any currency other than the local one) in a calendar year. For 2022, you can spend…

Get a preview of our upcoming ebook: Make it Legal

Hey, it’s Ahmed from remote.ma. First, I want to thank you all for following this blog and for the support you give me. It’s always wonderful to see your feedback, DMs, and public messages. Keep them coming! As you know, I talk about different things in this blog: best coffee shops, productivity, interviews, legal stuff……

Meet I-Wen Huang, a fresh remote UI/UX designer at Sendwave

I got the chance to connect with I-Wen Huang a few months ago when I first published my ebook: Get That Remote Job. We chatted about remote work, the ebook and the exercises. A few months later, I was excited to learn that she landed her first remote job! In this quick chat, we talked…

Calculate your CNSS and IR, step-by-step, with real examples and numbers

What’s the annoying part about working for yourself or working remotely? Doing taxes, paying yourself, and all those extra things you need to do. But the moment you understand them, you’ll open new doors for yourself. And that’s what I’m helping you with today. In a past post, I gave you the numbers you need…

The best delivery services in Casablanca, Morocco

When it comes to digital life in Morocco, Casablanca is the city that shines. Nearly all services are available for delivery and some are even offering same-day delivery. In this post, I’m sharing with you the best services you can use in Casablanca for food delivery, groceries, and much more. 1. Groceries These are the…

Work from home opportunities for Moroccans

Even if remote jobs can be done from home or anywhere, not all companies accept applications from Morocco. This can be due to law, timezones, etc. And if you’re from Morocco and using an international job board like WeWorkRemotely or OKJob, you are probably double-checking each posting to be sure you can apply. And this…

How to make 200$ a month working from home as a student

There is a popular myth many people in Morocco (and everywhere) still believe: “You cannot work and earn money while you are a student.” And the source of it, is another popular myth: “You cannot work unless you have an academic degree. Students have no degrees yet, which means no skills, and therefore they cannot…

How to stop Slack getting in your way when working

Slack is a widely-used real-time communication tool in remote companies. We use it too at Automattic, and it’s our default app for communication. But the problem with Slack is it’s too noisy. Especially with the default settings. You can not go in a focused work time without getting a Slack notification to ruin it. Or…

Time tracking when working remotely

When you work as a freelancer on different projects, and with different clients, it makes sense to track the time you spend on each project. But what about remote work? Does it make sense to use time tracking too? For remote companies, or at least those implementing remote work right, time tracking isn’t used. As…

The savings and extra expenses you should expect when working remotely

If you are new to remote working or thinking of making the leap, you may think remote work is all extra savings. You aren’t spending much now that you’re working from home, you’re skipping the commute, etc. While this is true, there are also new expenses added to the equation. I’ll present to you the…

The best companies you can work for remotely

When it comes to remote working. There are a lot of companies out there. But when deciding to go remote, one should choose wisely. You don’t want a company using “remote working” as an excuse to make you work all day. Or a company monitoring all your moves… I have a list of the best…

What is the auto-entrepreneur status in Morocco and when to use it?

Note: This article was updated on the 18th January 2023 following the new 2023 financial law. I get a lot of questions about the auto-entrepreneur status in Morocco, and especially the 1% taxation part. Why not paying 2% instead of +35%? And why spend too much time creating a company when you can get this…

Learn how to get a remote job with our upcoming FREE e-book

Since the beginning of this blog, I’ve been trying to find ways to help the remote community. We all want to work from anywhere. Skip the commute. Or work the hours that fit us best. But to do that, we need a remote job first. I get this question a lot: “How can I get…

3 things you can do TODAY to improve your communication when working remotely

In a remote working environment, communication is oxygen. But when the only medium of communication is text, things aren’t easy. But how can you communicate better in a remote work environment? Some tips you’ll find around are “over-communicate”, “async-communication”, “text first”… I find those not specific enough. What does “over-communicate” mean anyway? I’m not doing…

Traveling tips: Packing more, worrying less, and enjoying the journey

Some tips here will help you save space. Others will make you worry less about the travel. And others will help you enjoy your journey. Curated after years of travel. These tips can apply to all travelers. Not only those who travel a lot. So don’t feel this isn’t right for you if you travel…

7 excuses you’ll hear about remote working

When talking about remote working, you’ll certainly hear some excuses. The reasons for these are lack of trust, resistance, or sometimes misinformation. People and companies have seen one way of working: coming every day to an office. So it’s normal that they will push back if you start telling them they can do it differently…

Dealing with Moroccan banks without losing your mind

Even after spending more than a year dealing with banks and international transfers, I still think it’s a hard game! In this post, I’ll share my process of finding the best bank in Morocco, how to accept international payments and what are the fees. Banking is something that scares lot of people wanting to start…

Organize your life with a personal assistant: Todoist

A typical day for all of us involves lot of things we should complete. Buying groceries, working, calling family, and more. Organizing all of this and keeping track of everything is not that easy, especially if you work remotely and your home is also your office! At least, that was the case before discovering Todoist.…

What to expect from a company retreat when working remotely

When working remotely, you get used to communicate with your coworkers using audio, video, and text based chat. However, it’s always a good idea to see them in person once in a while. That’s why a lot of remote companies schedule a yearly meeting referred to as: the company retreat. This year, we had an…

Q&A with Carlin Sack, Senior Product Marketer at Zapier

First of all, I’m a huge fan of Zapier. I’m a huge believer in the idea of automation and making computers do more work for us! Also, I want to thank Carlin for taking the time to respond to my questions and for all the feedback she shared with us: If you would like to…

Understanding company taxation in Morocco

This article was updated on 7 March 2022. In prior articles, we covered what entity you need to work remotely. How you can get health insurance. And now we’ll talk about the taxes. To sum up, there are 4 different types of taxes you’ll need to declare/pay: TVA (Taxe sur la Valeur Ajoutée) This is…

How to get health insurance in Morocco when you work remotely

Last time, we talked about what type of company you need in order to work remotely from Morocco. This time, we’ll talk about health care as it’s an important subject for me and for lot of people. For more articles about the legal side of working remotely from Morocco, check the Legal category. In Morocco,…

Q&A with Vincent Voyer, Engineering Manager at Algolia

This Q&A is for managers who are eager to know what managing remote teams looks like. I want to thank Vincent for taking the time to answer my questions and for his valuable feedback: Q: For people who do not know you, who is Vincent and what are you doing currently? I am a JavaScript…

Creating the perfect legal entity to work remotely from Morocco

One of the most asked questions about working remotely is how you deal with all the legal paperwork. It was my first question when I started too. I’ll make sure to respond to all question around this topic. I guess it’s stopping a lot from starting in the remote world, so I’ll try to make…

6 daily tips for remote workers after working remotely for one year

When working remotely. It’s a different mindset with different challenges. You can read more about this in my personal blog. After adapting to this new environment for one year, I developed some tips I use daily. Those tips are: 1. Avoid rush hours Given you have the possibility to avoid rush hours, please do. Lunching…

Working remotely from Lisbon, Portugal

Olà Lisboa! This is my second time visiting Lisbon in Portugal. The first time was for a short vacation of 2 days. This time I spent 4 days there, but for work! Given we work remotely. Each team take a week or two each year to gather somewhere. We use this time to talk about…

Q&A with Alex Muench, Product Designer at Doist

Thank you Alex for accepting the request, and without further ado, let’s start the Q&A: Q: Who is Alex to people who do not know you and what are you up to currently? My Name is Alex Muench, I’m a senior product designer from Germany currently working with Doist. We are a fully remote team…

5 steps to get a remote job from Morocco

So you want to work remotely? Awesome! This article is for you. If you’re new to this blog, I’m Ahmed. A self-taught software engineer from Morocco working remotely. You can know more about me here. I’m providing you a 5 steps to get a remote job. I used this process myself and I hope this…

Gear for a remote job

This is the list of things I’m using and you’ll probably use if you’re working remotely. Given you can work from anywhere, this list contains things you’ll use from your home office and others for when you’re with a backpack (coffee shops, co-working spaces, or nomadic lifestyle). Disclaimer:You’ll find me talking about lot of brands…

Best Coffee Shops for working in Casablanca

This is a list of the best coffee shops I tried and recommend for working or studying in Casablanca. If you want a professional space, like a co-working space, we have another list for that. The general note given takes into consideration things like power sockets, noise, mood, view, quality of mobile signal… but also…

3 steps guide to learn something new while maintaining a daily job

If you’re in a field and thinking of learning some new things, either to be able to work on other areas or change your career completely, you’ll find yourself learning in your free time. One thing we need to make clear, however, is if you’re learning something to be able to do your current job,…

Building a portfolio

Question: How to show the world what you can do if your work is proprietary or not public? Answer: A portfolio. It’s easier to pass an interview with a portfolio in hand than passing it with only your resume to speak for you. In the former, when asked about something, you can respond and refer…

Understanding Remote vs Distributed teams

In your journey of finding remote jobs you’re likely to find two types of teams: distributed and remote. Even if they are used interchangeably, you need to be aware of the difference. This talk by Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic, is a good talk about Remote vs Distributed, but also remote working in general. I…

Where should I work?

Everyone asks themselves, where should I work? The response is different depending on your field and what you want to be in the future. But what’s discussed here, even if it’s applied to software engineering, can be said about any job out there. If you’re in a hurry and want a quick check list, you…

The future of software applications

In the beginning, software applications were desktop ones. You know, the ones you download from the internet or install from a CD, and get pinged about updates you need to install. We then moved to mobile applications. With the same story, you need to install it on your mobile phone and update it now and…

Why software engineers are leaving Morocco

In 2018, between 50 to 100 software engineers left Morocco every month, usually for France. While Morocco is proud of this achievement, as it shows his good education system, there is something we need to ask ourselves: Why? I’ve worked in the Moroccan software industry for nearly 2 years before quitting. These years were more…

4 reasons why remote work is beneficial for you

Remote working is something beneficial for your career and your personal life. In summary, it’s an international experience and the freedom to work anywhere and at any time. But let’s talk about each thing: Talents from all around the globe You’ll get the chance to work with incredible people from everywhere. This is good for…

5 jobs you can do from home

There are multiple things you can do online: selling books, teaching, building websites… But all those fall in the category of self-employment and/or entrepreneurship. In this article, I want to present you some jobs (i.e. with a monthly salary) you can do remotely from your home. Also, I’ll link some websites in the end of…

3 skills you need for any remote job

If you are working remotely or aspiring to, there are some skills you need regardless of the job. Be it, design, software development, or marketing, this is a list of things you need: English In a company spread around the globe, English is the main language used to communicate. Writing this blog in English, even…

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