Emmanuel Nnamani, chair of the Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS), addressed this issue on Saturday in response to a viral circular sent to mortuary attendants in the state.
The circular, dated September 17, 2024, outlines the implementation of this tax in accordance with Section 34 of the Birth, Deaths, and Burials Law, revised in the Enugu state laws of 2004. It instructs mortuary attendants to collect a fee of N40 per day for any corpses that are not buried within 24 hours.
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Payment must be made prior to the collection of corpses for burial, with funds remitted directly to the state government as mortuary tax.
The circular states, “The sum of N40 only is to be paid by owners of a corpse once it is not buried within twenty-four hours. The amount continues to accrue on a daily basis.”
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Nnamani emphasised that the tax is not new and has been part of the state’s legislation for years. He clarified that recent social media reports inaccurately claimed the tax amount to be N40,000. “It is an indirect tax paid by mortuary owners, not the deceased’s family, and it is only N40, not N40,000,” he stated.
He further explained that if a corpse remains in the mortuary for 100 days, the mortuary would owe N4,000 to the state.
“Since its introduction, no one has been denied the right to bury their deceased loved ones,” Nnamani added.
“The tax is not intended to generate revenue but to discourage people from keeping their deceased relatives in morgues indefinitely.”
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