Kehinde Fajobi
The Enugu State Government has clarified that the state’s mortuary tax, which has been in place for years, is not intended to generate revenue but to discourage prolonged storage of corpses in mortuaries.
The Executive Chairman of the Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS), Emmanuel Nnamani, addressed the public’s concerns over a recent circular on the tax, explaining that the levy is a long-standing policy.
“The tax is not new to the state; it is in line with the Enugu State Mortuary Tax Law and has been in existence for years,” Nnamani stated.
He further clarified that the tax is only ₦40 per day for each corpse that remains in the mortuary for more than 24 hours, not ₦40,000 as some social media users falsely claimed.
According to Nnamani, the responsibility for the payment falls on mortuary owners, not the families of the deceased.
“If a corpse stays for 100 days, the mortuary will pay ₦4,000 to the state,” he explained.
He also stressed that no one has been denied the right to bury their deceased due to the tax and reiterated that the aim is to reduce reliance on mortuaries rather than to raise revenue.
“The tax is meant to discourage people from leaving their dead ones in the mortuary for extended periods,” Nnamani added.