The Enugu State Government has given reasons for its decision to impose a tax on corpses in mortuaries across the state.
The government said its decision was not driven by the need to generate revenue.
Executive Chairman, Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS), Mr Emmanuel Nnamani, made this clarification while reacting to the Mortuary Tax circular addressed to all morticians in the state.
Nnamani said imposing the tax was inline with the state Mortuary Tax Law which had existed for years, adding that it was not new to the state.
He further clarified that the mortuary tax was N40 daily only as against N40,000.
Nnamani stated that it is an indirect tax paid by mortuary owners, not deceased family and it is just N40, not N40,000.
He added that since its introduction, nobody has been denied burying their dead ones, adding that if the corpse stays in the mortuary for 100 days, the mortuary is expected to pay the state a sum of N4,000.
“The tax is not meant to generate revenue but to discourage people from taking their dead ones to the mortuary all the time,” he stressed.
According to the circular, ESIRS, in line with the provisions of Section 34 of the Birth, Deaths and Burials Law Cap 15 Revised Laws of Enugu State 2004, approved the implementation of the Mortuary tax.
The law partly reads, “The sum of N40.00 only is to be paid by owners of a corpse once it was not buried within twenty-four hours. The amount continues to count daily.
“Kindly ensure that owners of corpses make the payments before collection of the corpses for burial and then remit the same to the ESIRS in any commercial bank under the mortuary tax in Enugu State IGR Account.”