- Ohio has passed a new law that allows businesses to pay their taxes using bitcoin
- Businesses will pay by logging into ohiocrypto.com
The cryptocurrency industry has a very unique relationship with taxes.
Countries like Spain are just beginning to put concrete tax measures in place regarding cryptocurrency while the IRS seems to lag behind.
In Bangkok, blockchain technology is now being used to combat tax evasion.
However, Ohio, USA seems to be kicking it up a notch by becoming the first US state to allow the payment of taxes through cryptocurrency.
Starting this coming week, businesses will be able to pay their taxes via a website called ohiocrypto.com with bitcoin.
This is a significant show of support for cryptocurrency from a US state and there are apparently plans for individuals to begin doing the same.
This new development was spearheaded by Treasurer Josh Mandel, who took an interest in digital currencies a few years ago and intends to use this as a flag-off of sorts for crypto adoption in the state.
“I do see [bitcoin] as a legitimate form of currency,” Mr. Mandel said.
Legal Tender
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have, for a long time, sought universal acceptance as a legal tender.
While institutional investment in blockchain and cryptocurrency has grown in event years, the use of cryptocurrency by the state has not fared as well, with mostly private firms and individuals pushing its use.
While Venezuela has embraced cryptocurrency as a state-backed currency, it has done so mostly to combat their current economic crisis.
Ohio making this move purely as a move to embrace innovation gives a huge boost to the blockchain industry and gives an unprecedented level of credibility and “does help send a message that bitcoin’s a technology that can be used by anybody—by bad guys but also by the government,” said Jerry Brito, the director of Washington, D.C.-based research firm Coin Center.
This new development allows business to pay everything from sales tax to employee withholding tax in bitcoin and once it explains fully to individuals, cryptocurrency and fiat currency will essentially be ranked side by side.
Hopefully, more states will adopt this measure and crypto users will have one more avenue with which to spend their funds.
