EXTRA: Enugu enforces N40 daily mortuary tax to prevent long corpse storage

The Enugu state government says it is enforcing the N40 daily mortuary tax to discourage prolonged corpse storage in morgues.

Emmanuel Nnamani, chair of the Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS), spoke on Saturday in response to a viral circular addressed to mortuary attendants in the state.

The circular, dated September 17, 2024, outlined the implementation of a mortuary tax in line with section 34 of the Birth, Deaths, and Burials Law Cap 15, revised in the Enugu state laws of 2004.

The circular instructed mortuary attendants to ensure that a fee of N40 per day is paid for corpses that are not buried within 24 hours.

The payment must be made before the collection of corpses for burial, with the funds remitted directly to the state government as mortuary tax.

“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 on daily basis,” the circular reads.

“Kindly ensure that owners of corpses make the payments before collection of the corpses for burial and then remit same to the ESIRS in any commercial bank under mortuary tax in Enugu State IGR Account.”

Nnamani emphasised that the tax is not new and has been part of the state’s law for years.

He further clarified that social media reports falsely claimed the tax was N40,000.

“It is an indirect tax paid by mortuary owners, not the deceased’s family, and it’s just N40, not N40,000,” Nnamani said, according to NAN.

He explained that if a corpse remains in the mortuary for 100 days, the mortuary is expected to remit N4,000 to the state.

“Since its introduction, nobody has been denied burying their dead ones,” Nnamani added.

“The tax is not meant to generate revenue but to discourage people from taking their dead ones to mortuary all the time.”