Ohio was the first U.S. state that allowed taxes to be paid in Bitcoin last November, but recently things changed as they have decided to shut down the process.
Robert Sprague, the Ohio Treasurer, announced the immediate suspension of OhioCrypto.com, the website that allowed businesses to pay taxes by using Bitcoins. The Bitcoins received as payment were later converted into the U.S. dollar by BitPay.
This decision was carried out by people from Sprague’s office as they believed that the website falls under “financial transaction device” and the payment provider, BitPay should have been authorized by the Board of Deposit. The board consists of Auditor of State, Attorney General, and Treasurer of State as the members.
Sprague said that it would be a wise choice to shut down the operation until the Attorney General takes a final decision. Josh Mandel, the previous Ohio Treasurer, introduced the crypto tax payment system and Sprague wishes to continue the new innovative way of working.
There was news of making the system available to the public as well, but the platform has failed to prove itself as, since its launch, only 10 businesses have chosen to pay taxes using cryptocurrency.
