US States Indiana And New Hampshire To Accept Taxes In Crypto Soon?

By Prashant Jha

Two new US States are on their way to accept taxes in the form of crypto coins as both Indiana and New Hampshire have taken legislative steps to make this a policy.

In Indiana, an amendment house bill to alter the existing taxation laws of the state has been filed on 24th January, 2019. Its goal is to allow the common people use cryptocurrencies to fulfill their tax obligations.New Hampshire has also seen a bill that requires the treasurer of the state to come up with a concrete plan to start accepting crypto coins for tax payments from citizens.

Undoubtedly, these are exciting moves. So what are all the details? In Indiana, the House Bill no. 1683 was filed on 24th January, requesting the General Assembly if the State of Indiana to make amendments to the taxation Code of Indiana currently in existence. If this particular bill becomes law, it can potentially allow citizens to use certain cryptocurrencies (one or more) in meeting their tax dues and many more. Ideally, this has the prospective of allowing the usage of crypto to pay costs, interests, penalties, special assessments etc.

The document directs that a country treasurer would have the following responsibility:

“SHALL DETERMINE THE VALUE OF THE PAYMENT IN UNITED STATES DOLLARS AT THE TIME THE PAYMENT IS MADE BY USING THE APPLICABLE EXCHANGE RATE.”

If the bill is indeed enacted after being approved by Indiana’s General Assembly, it is on-track to be put into effect from 1st July, 2019.

New Hampshire has seen its bill filed a while ago, on 5th January, 2019. It is the House Bill no. 470-FN and it is aimed towards the same thing: making provisions for the administration so that they can go forward with accepting crypto payments from citizens.

The New Hampshire plan will need more time than the Indiana one to be put into effect, however. If it becomes an act after being passed by the Senate as well as the he House of Representatives in the General Court (with the agreement of major officials of the state), then an implementable action plan is to be drafted and eventually put into effect from 1st July, 2020. The plan is expected to be submitted to the state treasurer well before 1st November, 2019 as that is the stipulated deadline.

The plan also aims at the identification of a suitable third party payment processor who would take care of the processing and handling without adding to the state’s expenditure in any way, suggesting the users may have to pay for that themselves.

The first US region to start accepting crypto taxes was the Seminole County, Florida, which started in May 2018. Later, in November, 2018, Ohio followed suit. Now, Indiana and New Hampshire may be the latest additions.

You May Also Read: Do You Pay Crypto Taxes In UK?