According to a recent statement made by Ohio’s state treasurer, so far, only two businesses have filed their taxes in crypto using the state’s crypto tax payment scheme.
Speaking at a forum[1] organized by the Ohio State Associated Press on February 19, 2019,Robert Sprague fielded questions about the department’s experiences with the newly launched bitcoin payment option for taxes, which was set up[2] by his predecessor Josh Mandel in December 2018. Sprague, who assumed his position a little over a month ago, states that the country has received only two tax payments so far on the state’s official crypto payment platform[3], OhioCrypto.com
In addition, he said, “We’re reviewing how [the program] might be either curtailed or might be expanded, and what our counter-party risk is with that vendor.”
However, a spokesperson declined to offer specific details concerning the exact value the state has received in bitcoin-paid taxes, claiming that such tax-related information is covered by financial confidentiality.
Still, the slow rate of usage won't deter the state, whose lawmakers are hoping[4] to become a major hub for the blockchain industry.
As stated earlier, the new tax payment system was established by Josh Mandel, who viewed cryptocurrencies as a legitimate form of money.
“Our biggest motive here was to give taxpayers more options in paying their taxes,” going further to tell Bloomberg[6] that the state was “proud to do our small part and take this small step to make Ohio the first state in America to enable taxpayers to be able to pay via cryptocurrency.”
According to reports, the filing process for making these payments includes three steps.
The first step is registration. Businesses have to register with the
