Congressman Matt Gaetz Proposes Legislation to Accept Bitcoin as Payment for Federal Income Tax

U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz (FL-01) introduced legislation on June 15 to “amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the payment of certain Federal taxes with bitcoin.”

Congressman Gaetz learned about the impact of Bitcoin on a country’s economy when attending the second inauguration of El Salvador’s populist president Nayib Bukele earlier this month. Bitcoin is the first decentralized cryptocurrency whereby transactions are verified via peer-to-peer bitcoin network nodes through cryptography and are recorded in a public distributed ledger. It has proved to be a rapidly growing industry.

During the inauguration event, the Congressman learned that El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender in 2021.Doing so has helped promote financial stability and job creation in Central America since its inception. Following the success El Salvador has had with Bitcoin and the recent boom in crypto currency, Congressman Gaetz introduced legislation that would allow taxpayers to pay their federal income tax with Bitcoin.

“My groundbreaking legislation will modernize our tax system by allowing federal income tax to be paid with Bitcoin. By enabling taxpayers to use Bitcoin for federal tax payments, we can promote innovation, increase efficiency, and offer more flexibility to American citizens. This is a bold step toward a future where digital currencies play a vital role in our financial system, ensuring that the U.S. remains at the forefront of technological advancement,” stated Congressman Gaetz.

To address the issue of regulating cryptocurrency, Congressman Gaetz’s legislation would have the Treasury secretary “prescribe” regulations he or she deems necessary to receive payments on “certain” federal taxes with Bitcoin as reported by the Daily Wire and “modernize our tax system by allowing federal income tax to be paid with Bitcoin” with a requirement to immediately convert “any Bitcoin amount received to its dollar equivalent at the conclusion of any transaction.”

You can read the full text of Congressman Gaetz’s legislation here.