Pass on dying in US if you can and beware The Lion in Brazil

Pass on dying if you can in the US, and beware The Lion in Brazil, writes Felicity Glover.

Benfica's fans celebrate the goal against Sporting during their Portuguese Premier League match held at Light stadium in Lisbon May 14, 2005. Benfica won 1-0. REUTERS/Jose Manuel Ribeiro JR/dh

Nothing comes cheap these days, including funerals.

According to Zimbio.com, which looks like a celebrity website, but has an odd section called funerals that is written (sorry, that should be was written; see below) by R Brian "Your Funeral Guy" Burkhardt, the average cost of burying a loved one in the United States is between US$12,000 (Dh44,079) and $15,000.

In Canada, said Mr Burkhardt, it costs C$10,000 (Dh36,270), while Brits pay an average of £7,000 (Dh40,833).

In Italy, Spain and Portugal, it costs about €3,000 (Dh14,025) - relatively cheap when you compare it with the above countries.

Unfortunately, these figures are from 2010. Mr Burkhardt didn't have a chance to update them because he passed away last year.

But we can be confident in the fact that the cost is rising. "The industry that has built up around death is growing every year, as is the price," Mr Burkhardt forecast in his 2010 post about the cost of funerals around the world.

Which brings us full circle to Portugal, where the financial crisis has hit even the funeral industry.

According to Reuters, diehard fans of Portugal's Premier League football club Benfica, which is based in Lisbon, will benefit from a discount deal signed between the club and the country's largest undertakers agency.

In addition to a 12.5 per cent rebate, Reuters says the ultimate advantages for card-carrying Benfica fans include having the club's anthem performed during the funeral ceremony, having the club's official logo chiselled on coffins or urns, as well as having the Benfica flag laid over the receptacle.

"Given the massive passion that Benfica instils, it made sense to go and talk to them to bring the club into funeral ceremonies in a professional way," Paulo Carreira, the assistant director general at Servilusa funeral home, told Reuters.

"Funerals are part of life and the discount can be important to soften families' financial burden these days, given the economic crisis we are in," adds Mr Carreira, who confesses to not supporting any particular club.

We head back to Brazil again this week, where President Dilma Rousseff is continuing her tough budget cuts in a bid to get the country's struggling economy back on track.

This time, she's counting on the Federal Revenue Service, also known as The Lionbecause of its official emblem, to help her government to meet its "ambitious budget targets", Reuters reports.

Renowned for its tough and creative tactics, the tax agency apparently stops at nothing, including deploying gun-toting operatives, to ensure that individuals and companies fully declare - and pay - their share to the government.

Recent operations have had names such as Black Panther and Delta, terms that are usually more associated with army special forces, Reuters says, adding that the agency even uses helicopters to size up millionaires' homes to ensure they are consistent with their tax returns.

"When it comes to collecting taxes, Brazilians are really good. They are probably some of the best in the world," Italo Lombardi, an analyst with Standard Chartered in New York, told Reuters.

With gun-toting agents from The Lion on their tail, it's hardly surprising that Brazilians are "really good" at paying the taxman every year.

But there are signs of discontent, with many taxpayers complaining that they get little in return. Tax revenue in Brazil is equal to about 35 per cent of GDP, well above emerging-market peers and more in line with European countries, Reuters says.

But the services offered are hardly Europe-like, as Brazil's roads, schools and police remain under-resourced even by Latin American standards.

"Tax collection in this country is very high, but why is the application of that money not as efficient as collection?" Gilberto Luiz do Amaral, the head of studies at Brazil's Tax Planning Institute, told Reuters.

Taxes and death in one week; no wonder I've not been invited to any dinner parties lately.

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