The Seminole County tax collection office in the state of Florida announced that it will begin accepting Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) as payment methods through the BitPay platform, making it the first US government tax office to allow citizens to pay in cryptocurrency.
In a statement released by the government agency, Joel M. Greenberg, the county’s tax collector, noted that blockchain technology could provide all county residents with more optimal and modern payment services, increasing transparency as well as the accuracy of settlements, and lowering the high costs of credit or debit card fees.
As a result, the office partnered with the international payment platform and cryptocurrency exchange, BitPay, to accept settlements in Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) for the payment of driver’s licenses, identification cards, title, and property taxes.
Alan Byrd, the spokesman of Seminole’s office, confirmed that the cryptocurrency payment will be available next June. In this way, the government agency will receive payments directly from BitPay.
Florida implements Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) cryptocurrency payments via BitPay for taxes
Furthermore, the authorities do not believe that there is any risk of price volatility since users only have to send the exact amount of money in Bitcoin (BTC) or Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to pay the bills, for example, a transaction that in turn only costs a fee of 1%, considerably less than the fees required by banks.
In this regard, Byrd also confirmed that the tax collection office is not interested in the cryptocurrencies market but in offering more varied and convenient payment services to the citizens.
“We are not speculating in the market but we are excited to see more payment options being offered to our customers,” he said.
While Seminole County, Florida, is the first US government agency to open up to Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) cryptocurrency payment, other government offices have been evaluating the possibility of making digital assets an effective method of payment.
