According to a Sunday report from the Wall Street Journal, the Ohio state government has announced that, starting this week, businesses in the state are allowed to make tax payments utilizing bitcoin. With this announcement, Ohio is the very first US state to allow bitcoin to be used in regards to taxes in any manner.
In order to make a payment with bitcoin, a business owner first needs to register with the Office of the Ohio Treasurer via a special website, OhioCrypto.com. Once they’re registered, then it’s simply a matter of filing out some tax details, including payment amount and tax period. Once the amount due is generated, they can make a payment with a compatible crypto wallet (Bitcoin core, Mycelium, breadwallet, etc.). For now, this service is only available for business taxes, but the state government did say that individual payments will be allowed in the near future.
Other states, such as Illinois, Arizona, and Georgia, have been tinkering with bitcoin proposals, though the common roadblock in enacting them seems to be a lack of understanding of cryptocurrency. Ohio’s new system will hopefully lend some legitimacy to bitcoin as a currency, which in turn could grant it some favor with these states. It could certainly use that favor, considering how fast bitcoin’s value is dropping at the moment.
