The Enugu State government has imposed daily tax on dead bodies at mortuaries across the state.
The Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS) issued a mortuary tax circular to all morticians operating in the state, announcing a ₦40 daily tax on each dead body.
The directive according to ESIRS is aligned with the provisions of section 34 of the Birth, Deaths and Burials Law Cap 15 Revised Laws of Enugu State 2004.
It said: “The sum of ₦40.00 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,” the circular partly reads.
Reacting to the announcement, a former Kaduna lawmaker, Shehu Sani said the development means that even dead people can no longer have a peaceful hereafter.
”Taxing Dead bodies in Enugu finally means people can no longer rest in peace,” the activist wrote on X on Sunday, October 13, 2024.
But the state government has explained that the move was not spurred by a revenue generation drive.
Rather it was to discourage people from taking their dead ones to the mortuary all the time.
The Executive Chairman of Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS), Mr Emmanuel Nnamani made the clarification on Sunday
