Ohio suspends crypto taxes payment portal

After grabbing global headlines when it decided to accept crypto for taxes, Ohio discontinued this method and suspended the payment portal. The portal allowed the residents of Ohio to pay in crypto which would then be converted to fiat currency. However, the state’s Treasurer stated that he believes the process used to integrate the crypto payments didn’t follow proper protocol and that it should be reviewed.

Ohio announced in November last year that it would be accepting tax payments in crypto. The state allowed its residents to pay for 23 types of taxes using crypto, from gas and cigarette tax to commercial activity tax and sales tax. Once a taxpayer paid in crypto, Atlanta-based crypto payments processor BitPay would then convert it into fiat for the state. At the time, the then Treasurer Josh Mandel said he hoped that in the future, an Ohio company could take over from BitPay in crypto payments processing.

The current Treasurer, Robert Sprague announced in a notice that the OhioCrypto.com would be suspended immediately. Sprague started looking into the portal when he took over from Mendel back in February. According to Sprague, the portal falls under ‘financial transaction device’. He also believes that BitPay should have been authorized by Ohio’s Board of Deposit before it was allowed to start processing payments for the state. This board is comprised of the Treasurer, the Attorney General and the State Auditor.

Sprague also stated that he believes there should have been a competitive bidding process as provided by the state’s law.

He stated, “Until a formal opinion is issued by the Attorney General, I feel it is prudent to suspend the website.” He, however, reiterated his office’s support for innovative new technologies.

Despite being one of the high profile crypto payment solutions, the crypto taxes payment method in Ohio hasn’t been all too successful. Taxpayers in the state have not taken to the method as was anticipated, with the Treasurer’s office revealing that in ten months of operations, there have been fewer than 10 businesses which have used it.