In November last year, Ohio State set out to enable tax payment in bitcoin by companies. Notably, the state’s treasury created a portal which would facilitate the exercise. Dubbed OhioCrypto.com, the portal officially began operation in November.
Ohio encourages tax payment in bitcoin
Interestingly, Ohio introduced a range of enticements to encourage taxpayers to transition to the platform. Notably, businesses that pay their taxes over the platform are eligible for a one percent fee. This is unlike the businesses that pay taxes via credit cards where they face a 2.5% charge as a transaction fee. According to Ohio Treasury, users will have to link their digital wallets with BitPay, a company that will process the transactions.
Up until this year, only one business had paid part of its taxes via the platform. However, Overstock is the first entity with a national foothold to commit to tax payment in bitcoin. According to a press release, Overstock revealed that it would pay part of its tax obligations using the Ohiocrypto.com platform. Notably, Overstock will pay the taxes due from commercial activities. According to Patrick M. Byrne, Founder, and CEO of Overstock, using the platform is part of their vision for the cryptocurrency.
Forward-thinking capability
Notably, Byrne acknowledges the forward-thinking capability of Ohio State. Interestingly, the CEO believes this is an initiative that the Federal government should give undivided attention to.
“We are proud to partner with forward-thinking governments and officials… to help usher in an era of trust through technology for our nation’s essential financial systems,” Byrne said.
On its part, Ohio Treasury applauded Overstock’s decision to go digital. In particular, Josh Mandel, Ohio Treasurer and mastermind of the platform, acknowledged the significance of Overstock’s decision. According to Mandel, Overstock does not disappoint when it comes to the adoption of cryptocurrency. Interestingly, this is about previous crypto-related initiatives by Overstock.
Early 2014, Overstock revealed that it would begin accepting bitcoin. Interestingly, this would make Overstock the first major online retailer to accept the digital currency. Two years later, Overstock issued stock using technology based on the blockchain.
