ENUGU GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTS DAILY MORTUARY TAX TO DISCOURAGE PROLONGED

The Enugu State government has introduced a daily tax on corpses kept in mortuaries, a move that officials claim is aimed at discouraging long-term storage of deceased bodies rather than generating revenue.

In a circular issued by the Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS), the new tax is enforced under section 34 of the Birth, Deaths, and Burials Law, Cap. 15, Revised Laws of Enugu State 2004. According to the circular, a fee of ?40.00 per day will be imposed on corpses that are not buried within 24 hours of their arrival at the mortuary. The tax will accumulate daily until the body is collected for burial. Mortuary operators are required to remit the payments to the Enugu State IGR Account in any commercial bank before the release of the body to the family.

Critics of the policy have expressed concern about its impact, but ESIRS Executive Chairman, Emmanuel Nnamani, defended the measure, stating that it is not new to the state and has been in place for years under the Enugu State Mortuary Tax Law.

“This is an indirect tax on mortuary operators, not the families of the deceased. The fee is just ?40 per day, not ?40,000 as some may think. For instance, if a corpse stays in the mortuary for 100 days, the mortuary is expected to pay ?4,000 to the state. This policy is not designed to generate significant revenue but rather to discourage the long-term storage of bodies in mortuaries,” Mr. Nnamani clarified.

Despite the policy, no family has been denied the opportunity to bury their loved ones due to the tax.