Families in Britain to pay `death tax`?

London: Families in Britain may have to pay a `death tax` of 170 pounds before laying their loved ones to rest.

Meant to improve the quality and accuracy of death statistics and medical certificates of all non-coroner referred deaths, the government proposals would see relatives having to pay out the sum before they can bury their loved ones, the Daily Mail reported.

The government proposals for debate in the Commons this week would hit families with a minimum charge to check the cause of death when a relative passes away. The tax would be used to help clarify cause of death and in the long run would allow doctors to plot trends in illnesses. The new scheme would be applied to around 490,000 deaths every year, affecting more than 1,000 families a day, and would hit families with a minimum charge to check the cause of death.

Nearly 1,000 medical examiners would be appointed on a salary of up to 81,500 pounds a year to ensure that doctors fill in forms properly with the accurate cause of death.
IANS