Located in the midwestern part of the U.S., Ohio stretches from the Ohio River and the Appalachian Mountains in the south to Lake Erie in the north. The state becomes the first that allows businesses to pay their taxes in Bitcoins.
Companies that want to take part in this program can visit OhioCrypto.com and pay their taxes in cryptocurrency. To do this, they must first enter their state registration number and their tax payment amount, as well as their tax period date.
From there, they can use their cryptocurrency wallet to pay off their balance directly from the site.
Also according to the site, paying via Bitcoin is instantaneous, secure, and transparent. It also lists 23 different taxes that businesses can pay with Bitcoin, ranging from cigarette and tobacco taxes to fuel and sales taxes.
The idea originated from Ohio state treasurer Josh Mandel, who has been interested in Bitcoin since he was appointed in 2011. He said that he sees the flagship cryptocurrency “as a legitimate form of currency,” and by using the Bitcoin program, the state highlights its broader ambitions to make itself more friendly with technology.
To make this initiative possible, the state is working with the cryptocurrency payment startup BitPay to handle its payments, which converts the Bitcoin to U.S. dollars for the tax office.
Bitcoin has been used for speculative purposes in many cases in the U.S., because the cryptocurrency hasn’t picked up well as a method of payment for several reasons. One key reason for this is the massive price volatility, which makes many sellers nervous to accept it.
According to the news, its is noted that while Ohio’s initiative doesn’t grant the currency legal status, "it would be a kind of tacit approval Bitcoin has so far lacked."
Other states like Arizona, Georgia, and Illinois have each considered similar programs that accepts Bitcoin for paying taxes, but met with some legislation issues.
While Bitcoin struggled to become a widespread form of payment, Ohio treasurer Josh Mandel said that paying with Bitcoin can give businesses several benefits. Besides being “quick and easy,” trackable, secure and transparent, the method also has lower fees, and allows tax payers to pay via mobile devices.
But whether anyone wants to really embrace the advantages of paying their taxes using cryptocurrency is initially debatable.
The main cause of this, is again the volatility of cryptocurrency, which is free falling to around $4,000 per Bitcoin, a continued decrease since the beginning of 2018.
