Bitcoin Forum

https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-arizona-senate-passes-bill-to-allow-tax-payments-in-bitcoin

The Arizona Senate passed a bill on Feb. 8 to allow residents in the state to pay their taxes with cryptocurrencies, public records indicate.

The Senate Bill 1091, which intends to enable cryptocurrencies for tax payment, was introduced Jan. 10, 2018 and passed by the Senate Finance Committee by a 4-3 vote on Jan. 24. On Feb. 8, the Senate passed the bill by a 16-13 margin, with one no-vote.

The bill has now been sent to Arizona’s House of Representatives.

If the bill is adopted, Arizona would become the first state in the U.S. to accept cryptocurrency tax payments by the year of 2020, as stated on the public record. The bill would allow taxpayers of the state to use “a payment gateway, such as Bitcoin, Litecoin or any other cryptocurrency recognized by the department, using electronic peer-to-peer systems.”

According to the bill, the Arizona Department of Revenue, upon receiving payments in crypto for “tax and any interest and penalties”, would be obligated to convert the cryptocurrency payments to U.S. dollars within 24 hours.

Arizona State Republican Rep. Jeff Weninger, who co-sponsored the bill, said the tax measure intends to turn the state into a center of  “blockchain and digital currency technology in the future”. Referring to the tax bill, Weninger told Fox News this week:

    "It's one of a litany of bills that we're running that is sending a signal to everyone in the United States, and possibly throughout the world, that Arizona is going to be the place to be for blockchain and digital currency technology in the future."

In September, 2017, Cointelegraph reported that the municipality of Chiasso, Switzerland will enable its residents to pay taxes in Bitcoin starting January 2018, following the lead of Zug.

That is really positive news especially if it is coming from US, if a state thinks that btc is legal and cannot be stopped and they are implementing it for payments, then soon all states and countries will follow and btc will become unstoppable soon.

in my opinion, this is a great achievement for such a country as the USA, I think in the future in all countries people will be able to pay taxes on cryptocurrencies goods and this is a big step forward.

This is very good news, just like bad news come, good ones also come, I think it may be reason for bitcoin to stop falling and going back to its rise now.

This is it! Governments are going to compete against each other in attracting as much crypto business as possible. At least some of governments. It is very good that Arizona took a first spin on the wheel  ;)

This is positive news for cryptocurrency as a whole, since this is a sign that crypto is starting to get acknowledged by the government and this will make adoption faster. Even if that is the case, I don't think that btc and other crypto would replace fiat. Still, this is the first step for cryptocurrency to become mainstream. Just hodl on, this bit of news is the sign that crypto have a more potential hidden in it.

I hope the Senate approve this, this is the first step to cryptocurrency adoption and if it proves to be successful other states will follow, who knows other countries will follow and also I'm hoping my country also adapt this implementation.

Hope that this will be asuccess. A next step to Adaption and away from banning.

Wow theres a good news despite of this fud that spread everyday ,it will removed the worries of some holders including me im now seeing a new light where bitcoin is going.

It's indeed a good news for the people in Arizona who's in crypto, and also an innovation to their state to have a move like this. While crypto's being legal now, I hope the exchanges could keep up, especially on transactions on the blockchain.

If this bill becomes a law, it would be good to the crypto community. With this, more people will be encouraged to learn and appreciate cryptocurrency. Furthermore, Bitcoin will be gaining more popularity and hopefully, it's value will bounce back again.

good news, and I see bitcoin will benefit arizona, and improve its economy. and this is a good contribution to the crypto world.

arizona is the second country to make tax rules bitcoin after japan. but it's better that all crypto holders should issue taxes, not just bitcoin holders.

Definitely a good news! Finally, something that is new and does not involve the government being against Bitcoin adaptation. Hopefully this would be approved and be the start of influencing other government units to actually see cryptocurrency in a positive light and even consider its usage rather than its banning. This is one giant big step towards the spread of  Bitcoin awareness and I hope it will all go well.

they have no clue
'a payment gateway, such as Bitcoin, Litecoin or any other cryptocurrency recognized by the department, using electronic peer-to-peer systems'

...
a payment gateway lol.
crypto's are not a payment gateway
crypto's are a currency.. a gateway is a business/exchange that handles and converts the currency to a countries legal tender

the wording alone of the quote makes me feel the bill wont hold much weight, as it doesnt make sense in reality.

To an outsider's mind, its because what they usually do is wire fiat to an exchange, buy some BTC or an altcoin, use it, then send them back to the exchange and trade them back for fiat again. Their main currency will always be fiat.

In some ways its a gateway because ultimately, its only a public ledger.

Paying tax as BTC? The future is bright.

this has been a very interesting news!
not just because it is bitcoin related,... but because it is from a state in US where bitcoin is not considered a currency. they consider bitcoin a commodity if i am not mistaken and now with this bill they are practically saying bitcoin is a currency! because you don't pay your taxes with a commodity you pay them with a currency.

this is a very good day for a lot of crypto players who have alot invested but not alot of liquid cash and don't want to cash anything out.. I really applaud this stance and hope it carries over to all states and federally.. you want us to play by the rules then make the taxes fair and as easy and fair as possible to pay our share.. next work on the ridiculous laws that make each coin to coin transfer a taxable transaction.

That is a really good news for the crypto currency investors,there are some governments are also supporting the crypto currencies,maybe they understand that crypto currencies are the currency of future so they are getting ready in the early stages.

if this will continue to happen,in 5 years time the whole america will consider bitcoin as ther currency because this is one big state of us and a big positive outcome for bitcoin legacy,when time of fuds we need something positive to push us to greatfull feeling and this thread helps alot