Bitcoin for the payment of taxes? Ohio is the first state to try it

Starting this week, Ohio businesses will be able to pay their taxes with Bitcoin.

Ohio will become the first state to do so – others, including Arizona, Georgia, and Illinois, have considered legislating to allow businesses to use bitcoin for their taxes, but these efforts have present failed in the legislature of that state.

The Ohio program will eventually be available to individual applicants, but in the short term it is only for businesses. Companies wishing to use the program must register with OhioCrypto.com to then pay the taxes they owe using cryptocurrency. according to The Wall Street JournalThis includes everything from taxes on cigarette sales to payroll deductions.

State Treasurer Josh Mandel told the newspaper he hoped the program would make it easier for businesses to file taxes while placing Ohio at the forefront of Bitcoin adoption.

These Bitcoin payments will be processed by an Atlanta-based company, BitPay, which will convert the currency into dollars and transfer the funds to the state treasury office. Bitcoin will still not be considered a legal form of currency, WSJ reports that the move will give the currency a "tacit approval".

But with the downside price of Bitcoin, it is unclear if the Ohio initiative will be used on a large scale.