The Arizona House Ways and Means Committee just voted to advance Bill 1091, which means the full House will soon hold a decisive vote on the groundbreaking proposal.
The bill would make Arizona the first US state to allow residents to pay their income taxes in Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency, starting in 2020. It already passed the Arizona Senate in early February.
Speaking on behalf of the opposition, Senator Steve Farley, D-Tucson, said, “What this does in effect is transfer the volatility risk off the person paying their taxes and onto the Department of Revenue and thus all other taxpayers.” He added, “I think American dollars ought to be good enough.”
Under the proposed Arizona law, the Revenue Department would have to convert cryptocurrency tax payments into USD within 24 hours and credit the taxpayer’s account. This provision would mitigate risk for the state, reducing the impact of Bitcoin’s volatility.
The move is intended to attract developers and startups and to make Arizona a tech hub for blockchain innovators.
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