Ontario town becomes first in Canada to approve crypto for tax

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While several states and municipalities in the U.S. have already made strides toward accepting cryptocurrency for tax payments, the country’s northern neighbor hasn’t been so anxious. This is changing, though, as a small town in the province of Ontario has become the first in the entire country to approve the use of digital currencies for taxes.

Innisfil is a town of just 36,500 people, but is taking a big leap forward. The city’s council voted Wednesday night to partner with Coinberry Limited, a Toronto-based crypto company, to manage crypto tax payments in what will be a year-long pilot program.

The new payment option is expected to be ready sometime next month, which is when many residents will be paying their second property tax installments. The mayor of Innisfil, Lynn Dollin, states, “Once again, we are proud to be first in taking this bold step by offering this new, exciting payment option to our residents. There’s no doubt that cryptocurrency is growing in usage and popularity. By getting into this now, we are making sure our municipality is ahead of the game, and signaling to the world that we truly are a future-ready and innovative community.”

Beginning April, residents will see a new payment option on the town’s website, which will give them the option to pay using Bitcoin Core (BTC). BTC is the only crypto that will be accepted initially, but the town indicates that it expects to add others, such as Ether, Litecoin and Ripple, in the future.

Once the option to pay in BTC is chosen, residents will send the appropriate amount to the town’s digital wallet using Coinberry Pay. Coinberry will then process the funds, which will instantly be converted to Canadian dollars and transferred to Innisfil’s financial accounts.

Coinberry co-founder and CEO Andrei Poliakov asserts, “Along with this partnership, Coinberry is extremely pleased to announce the launch of Coinberry Pay—an easy-to-use cryptocurrency payment solution that will allow Innisfil residents to pay their taxes using cryptocurrency. Leaders from all levels of government who are first to recognize the benefits of the ‘new money economy’ will be the first to reap the rewards. We are extremely pleased at achieving a milestone in the history of adoption of cryptocurrency in Canada.”

Innisfil residents, along with others around the Toronto area, might want to come out to the CoinGeek Toronto Conference to be held this May. The two-day event on May 29 and 30 will feature some of the most well-known professionals in the crypto and blockchain spaces and this is going to be a great opportunity to learn about where crypto is headed and the role Bitcoin SV plays in the future of digital currency.