Colorado Becomes First US State to Accept Crypto as Tax Payments

Colorado has set the ball rolling as the first U.S. state to offer residents the option of paying taxes using cryptocurrencies.

Governor Jared Polis made the announcement, noting that it was a stepping stone toward making Colorado a digital innovation hub.

“As of right now, the state of Colorado is officially accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment option for all taxes. We've been talking about this for a while, and we said we would deliver by the end of the summer — we have,” Polis said.

The Colorado Department of Revenue highlighted that payments would be remitted through personal PayPal accounts, which support Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). 

The governor pointed out that the state would collect the crypto payments and deposit the converted value in dollars into the state treasury. He added:

“Taxpayers can now select cryptocurrency as a payment option, just showing again from a customer-service perspective how Colorado is tech-forward in meeting the ever-changing needs of businesses and residents.”

To foster bold ideas in the state, Polis believes taking the crypto payment route is the way to go. 

“As a state, we're on the forefront of digital innovation, whether it's applying blockchain and shared-ledger technology as a new model for funding, or whether it's simply being consumer-friendly and making sure that we allow for the kind of innovation that will disrupt legacy business practices and government practices to make them more efficient,” Polis highlighted. 

Earlier this year, the Colorado governor disclosed that the state was in high gear to permit crypto tax payments as early as this summer, Blockchain.News reported. 

Polis's crypto advocacy has not gone unnoticed, given that he was one of the initiators of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus back in 2016. He was also among the first politicians to accept crypto donations for his campaigns.