Maral or marala (''death duty'') is an unpopular tax system which was practiced in Sri Lanka. The tax was applied on property after the death of the person who had the rights to it. Two-thirds of property could be transferred to kinsmen or heirs upon the owner's death, but one-third would be taken by the state. If there were no kinsmen, the entire property could levied by the state. Similar practice was practiced in India too. However, Christians were not subject to the tax during

Portuguese rule The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas Colonialism, colonies, Factory ...

and maral tax collector was appointed to collect the tax. However, women in

Kingdom of Kandy The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the Sri Lanka, island of Sri Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century. Initially a client kingdom ...

were exempt from this tax. During the British rule in Sri Lanka, such tax system was removed for the welfare of the people. Even though,

Sri Vikrama Rajasinha Sri Vikrama Rajasinha ( Sinhala:ශ්‍රී වික්‍රම රාජසිංහ, Tamil:ஸ்ரீ விக்கிரம ராஜசிங்க; 1780 – January 30, 1832, born Kannasamy Nayaka) was the last of four Kings to rule ...

revived maral tax during his reign.

References

Portuguese Ceylon Economic history of Sri Lanka Taxation in Sri Lanka {{SriLanka-hist-stub