It is still not possible to pay taxes with bitcoin in the State of New Hampshire. To the disappointment of those who were looking forward to start paying taxes in bitcoin, the New Hampshire House of Representatives have rejected the proposal. The proposal was submitted in the form of House Bill 552 titled ‘Requiring the state treasurer to develop an implementation plan for the state to accept bitcoin as payment for taxes and fees’.
The house bill was introduced by New Hampshire State Representative Eric Schleien which was then voted out by 264 to 74 votes. If the bill had received majority of votes, then there was a fair chance of New Hampshire becoming the first US state to accept bitcoin for taxes and regulatory fees. It is surprising that in spite of bitcoin being officially recognized as a currency, commodity, asset among others by various government departments it is still not possible to pay taxes and government services with bitcoin.
IRS has deemed bitcoin as taxable asset while FINCEN has recognized it as a currency, requiring all bitcoin companies to function under certain guidelines which is otherwise applicable only to fiat currency transmitters and other financial institutions dealing with fiat currency. Various US government departments have been vying to exert their control over the digital currency by classifying bitcoin under different categories of financial instruments.
While the result of the vote has been disappointing for bitcoin enthusiasts in New Hampshire, the fight is far from over. The bill managed to gain 74 positive votes from elected representatives, which itself is a good sign. Eric Schleien is expected to continue his efforts to get the state treasury to accept bitcoin as currency that can be used by American taxpayers to pay their taxes and other bills owed to government run agencies in the state.