An Ohio state senator has introduced a bill to require the state to accept cryptocurrency for payment of state taxes and fees. The legislation would also allow state institutions of higher education and the state pension fund to invest in cryptocurrency if they choose to.

Niraj Antani introduced the bill on Sept. 30, according to a press release.

Opening the door for crypto

Under the bill, the state tax commissioner would decide which cryptocurrencies would be accepted in any year by June 30:

“A governmental entity shall accept cryptocurrency, as approved by the tax commissioner […], for the payment of any tax, fee, cost, charge, assessment, fine, or other payment of expense owed to the governmental entity.”

“The governmental entity may require the payer to pay any service fees associated with the cryptocurrency transaction,” the law adds.

Central bank digital currency (CBDC) is apparently excluded with the sentence “‘Cryptocurrency’ does not include a national currency.” The choice of cryptocurrencies available for the tax commissioner to choose from may also be limited by the law’s definition of them:

“‘Cryptocurrency’ means a digital representation of value […] for which there is a reasonable expectation that it will maintain a stable value relative to a fixed amount of monetary value.”

Antani’s crypto legislation. Source: State of Ohio

Regulation at the state level

A bill to exclude CBDC from being treated as money under the Ohio Uniform Commercial Code is currently before the Ohio House. Another bill protects the cryptocurrency mining industry, among other things.

Source: Niraj Antani

Antani noted in his press release that Ohio was the first state to accept cryptocurrency for tax payments in 2018. The following year, the state attorney general advised that the State Board of Deposits had to approve the use of crypto, which it never did. Antani said:

“This policy should have been acted on by the State Board of Deposits when it was deemed necessary. Since they have failed to act, the legislature will."

Ohio is the home state of Donald Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance. At present, only Colorado accepts tax payments in cryptocurrency.

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