Pay taxes in Bitcoin? Ohio state says YES !!!

Ohio set to become the first U.S. state to accept bitcoin for tax bills, a show of support for a technology

Starting this week, businesses in the Ohio state will be able to pay taxes on a variety of sales, as well as employee withholding and public utility taxes with Bitcoin.

Statement from Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel in a press release:

“We are proud to make Ohio the first state in the nation to accept tax payments via cryptocurrency”.

“We’re doing this to provide Ohioans more options and ease in paying their taxes and also to project Ohio’s leadership in embracing blockchain technology.”

Companies interested in leveraging this freedom will have to register with the state’s Treasurer’s office through OhioCrypto.com, a portal that will take each payment and convert the virtual currency to actual dollars before being deposited into a state account, the press release said.

Any business that operates in Ohio even if not based there will be able to use the portal to pay up to 23 taxes, including those on cigarettes and tobacco products, with a small fee to confirm the transaction.

The state will use BitPay, a cryptocurrency global payment system, to complete the process. BitPay will keep the Treasurer’s office from holding or using Bitcoins, and it will allow blockchain technology to create more transparency in transactions.

Statement from Stephen Pair, BitPay co-founder, and CEO:

“The system will reduce risk and identity fraud, and let payments be made quickly from anywhere.”