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The People of Ohio Can Now Pay Their Taxes in Bitcoin (qz.com)
Starting this week, businesses in Ohio will be able to pay taxes in bitcoin through a new platform, OhioCrypto.com, a first in the US. From a report: For many enthusiasts, part of the appeal of crypto has been the very fact that these currencies are not backed by governments. That makes it harder for politicians to manipulate currencies to their own ends, they say. But for the same reason, states have sought to sideline cryptocurrencies, comfortable to dismiss bitcoin as a passing fad. So Ohio, and its treasurer Josh Mandel, see embracing them as a way to signal that the state is tech-savvy and forward-thinking. "I do see [bitcoin] as a legitimate form of currency," Mandel told (paywall) the Wall Street Journal.
They better be cashing out the picosecond those BT transactions go through...
A lot of places that embraced bitcoin quickly are already discontinuing it or not supporting it anymore.
It's never really been stable enough to be used properly as a currency. A currency that hops around in value up and down every few days isn't a very useful currency- it's an investment vehicle not a currency.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
I seriously cannot comprehend how mind-bogglingly stupid [some/most] politicians can be. How do these people even function in society?
This is almost certainly going to be ruinous for Ohio's bottom line. I highly doubt anyone associated with the Ohio treasury is as involved and up to speed on crypto transactions as they would need to be to avoid such a volatile currency blowing up in their faces.
For many enthusiasts, part of the appeal of crypto has been the very fact that these currencies are not backed by governments. That makes it harder for politicians to manipulate currencies to their own ends, they say.
Who needs the government to manipulate your currency when speculators already do so with tumultuous and unpredictable swings in value every day?
I thought the appeal behind bitcoin was supposed to be it's anonymous (really pseudonymous). I thought gold was supposed to be the "I don't trust fiat currency" asset.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
he's only treasurer until the first of the year because he didn't run for re-election
They are not taking bitcoin, they are taking USD. Some pay provider converts the coin to USD and hands them over. This would be like saying you can pay with beanie babies if the same provider would take them as payment.
Michigan agrees to accept Beanie Babies as tax payments. Colorado agrees to accept Magic Trading Cards. And in a surprise move, California will accept any baseball card printed prior to 1965.
I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.
Wallets are free, criminals already do this with cell phones and ID's and coin wallet thefts, so that's probably exactly who. And given that addition to the volatility... Gov's could lose a lot of money real fast. Taxpayer money. That'd be bad.
It means I can pay taxes without having to use the US banks. The US banking system is horrible at the best of times. If you happen to be black or live in an undesirable part of the USA it is out right abusive. Crypto currencies don't make a lot of sense in most countries but in Venezuela, Zimbabwe or the USA they do. So thank you Ohio.
"So Ohio, and its treasurer Josh Mandel, see embracing them as a way to signal that the state is tech-savvy and forward-thinking."
Like Orange County California, I bet
https://www.investopedia.com/a...
Just like Robert Citron, Josh is playing with other people's money. He should get smacked down fast.
This story is getting a lot of hype from the BTC evangelists. Of course, the truth is that Ohio is only accepting dollars for taxes. The Ohio treasury is using BitPay to convert BTC immediately into dollars, minus whatever fees are charged for the conversion. Unless you've already had BTC in your possession prior to 2017, what's the point?
The question that BTC evangelists hope you won't ask next is "Who else is still accepting Bitcoin for payments?" Here's a list of companies as tallied last month: https://unblock.net/companies-...
You might recognize maybe half a dozen names from that list. As a means of conducting day-to-day retail transactions, BTC has dropped off the map. It is rarely even mentioned anymore.
It might not be as stupid as you think. You see when you use the bitcoin to pay your taxes which are denominated in dollars you will trigger a capital gains tax. So next year they will know exactly how many bitcoin you "sold" to pay this year's taxes and if you do not have a capital gains entry for those coins then they know exactly whom to audit!
1 bitcoin is always 1 bitcoin. It's relation to a basket of goods only exists through the dollar as a proxy. People are still sniffing dollars and everyone gets mad at bitcoin? WTF?
I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
States can't make any thing other than gold or silver coin a tender in payment of debts. The legal dodge is that the states aren't the Fed or the Treasury, so it isn't they that are making the requirement of transacting in fiat Federal Reserve Note dollars, so the constitutional restriction does not apply. This dodge fails if a state decides to accept something else as a tax debt payment.
Arguably a necessary characteristic of money is being able to pay your taxes in it, for instance the success of Worgl stampscript (negative interest currency) experiment of the '30s came largely from the local government accepting it as tax payment. The local government also issued it, which gave them the reason to accept it. The negative-interest aspect (had to buy stamps to affix to keep a currency note current) led to a huge increase in the velocity of money as people wished to avoid paying the stamps, and also a huge move toward long-term investment as negative interest rates turned the present-value calculation upside down, making money worth more the further in the future it would be taken out, rather than future returns being discounted.
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?" - Patrick Henry
Ooopsy, only a year late to the party :)
From a quick google search...
As a noun, a cue is either a signal or a piece of sporting equipment. As a verb, it refers to the act of signaling someone, or the act of striking a ball in billiards games. As a noun, a queue is a lineup of people or other things. As a verb, queue means to line something up or to form a line.
The GP's use of queue seems quite apropos. Though both are acceptable.
Some days I get the sinking feeling Orwell was an optimist.
1 bitcoin is always 1 bitcoin. It's relation to a basket of goods only exists through the dollar as a proxy. People are still sniffing dollars and everyone gets mad at bitcoin? WTF?
Because if not for 'the dollar as a proxy' you wouldn't be able to trade your 1's and 0's for that basket of goods.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Just close your web browser. Delete /. from your bookmarks. Use some other community where everybody loves you. How fucking hard is it to work that out?
So you and the AC thinks the arguments are ordered, I don't agree.
If there's any practical gap between the nominal value and the cash liquidity of Bitcoin, Ohio had better brace itself for a stampede of Bitcoin payments.
If there's any practical gap, this might be a cynical move on the part of some wealthy Ohio speculator with political connections.
Most likely this is some person who scored a Bitcoin windfall and now wishes to return to an actual cash position at face value, who increasingly anticipates a Bitcoin implosion any day now.
Let say I earned $100k this year. How much do I owe in BTC? Can I play the volatility at my advantage?
They will learn the details from the audit.
Foreign currency triggers gains/loss when converted to USD, I don't see why bitcoin would be any different.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
Bitcoin is (nominally) a currency, so do capital gains actually apply to changes in its value?
GBP, EUR, CAD, AUD, and JPY are actual currencies. If you buy them, and later sell them at a gain, what do you suppose happens?
If you guessed that you incurred a tax liability you'd (probably*) be correct.
Why do you think a gain on BTC is any different?
*Always consult your tax advisor.
How do they know your basis?
You are required to tell them that when you fill it in on your tax form. The only way to obscure this would be to deliberately lie on your tax form and the penalty for doing that is going to be a lot, lot worse (probably jail) compared to just "forgetting" to declare your Bitcoin transactions.
Also, if US currency was deflationary would the government be allowed to collect capital gains taxes on your bank account?
No, provided it is a USD bank account because 1 USD will always be worth 1 USD and since the US government requires the buying and selling price of property to always be given in USD then there will never be a change in the value and hence no capital gain or loss even though 1 USD may buy you more, or less, over time.
I'm pretty sure they did it solely to shut up that guy who always posts that "Bitcoin isn't a real currency because you can't pay your taxes with it". ;^)
I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
They are hoping their tax revenue will sextuple when Bitcoin goes to new highs.
Not ready for cryptocurrency. Or any science at all.