Florida Governor Confirms the State will Accept Tax Payments in Bitcoin (BTC)

Ron DeSantis, the Governor of the US state of Florida says the state is working toward accepting tax payments in bitcoin (BTC).

Florida to Embrace Crypto Tax Payments

DeSantis spoke during the signing of a financial literacy curriculum bill on March 22. During the press conference, he said he had directed stated agencies to prepare to accept taxes in the form of cryptocurrencies. DeSantis said:

“We are working – and I’ve told state agencies – figure out ways where if a business wants to pay tax in cryptocurrency to Florida, we should be willing to accept that.”

It’s worthy of note that the Florida Governor specifically said that the state is working on accepting BTC as tax payments. He said:

“We will accept bitcoin, we’re working on doing that, for payments in the state of Florida.”

In addition, DeSantes pointed out a provision he pushed for in his latest budget proposal that would allocate funds to experiment with the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) to optimize state functions. Unfortunately for the incumbent, the said provision could not pass the legislature. DeSantis also drew a parallel between cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and state-controlled central bank digital currencies (CBDC). The Governor noted there are several “hazards” related to a federally controlled digital dollar. He noted:

“I worry about the amount of power that would give someone in a central authority to basically be able to shut off access to purchasing certain goods. We’d be in uncharted territory.”

DeSantis added he’s “very concerned” about the Biden Administration’s executive order on digital assets.

What Is the Executive Order About?

For the uninitiated, the order urges the exploration of a sovereign digital dollar that could, over time, completely replace fiat. In addition, it also talks about directing financial agencies to develop policy recommendations around crypto assets. On March 9, President Biden signed the long-awaited crypto executive order to flag the first comprehensive federal digital assets strategy for the US. Shortly after the release of the order, the NEC director Brian Deese and National Security advisor Jake Sullivan issued a joint statement addressing the same. An excerpt from the statement reads:

“We are clear-eyed that “financial innovation” of the past has too often not benefited working families while exacerbating inequality and increasing systemic financial risk. This history underscores the need to build robust consumer and economic protections into digital asset development.”

Deese and Sullivan explained that the order’s outline will reinforce the US’s leadership in digital finance systems and safeguard the long-term efficiency of current systems like AML features. Among others, some of the measures included in the executive order are:

• Protect U.S. investors, consumers, and businesses.
• Protect the U.S. and global financial stability by encouraging the Financial Oversight Council (FSC) to identify and mitigate any possible financial risks posed by digital assets.
• Mitigate financial foul play and national security risks arising from misuse of digital assets.
• Promote U.S. leadership in innovation at the world level.
• Promote financial inclusion by encouraging the safe trading of digital assets in U.S. economic landscape.
• Explore the development of a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) through the placement of urgency on its research. The research on the digital dollar will be in the interests of the U.S.
• Support responsible innovation in the digital economies era.