New Hampshire Bitcoin Tax Bill

Earlier this year, state representative Eric Schleien, filed a bill that if passed would allow New Hampshire to partner with a bitcoin company to accept bitcoin payments and receive US dollars. It would allow citizens to pay their taxes with bitcoin.

According to CoinDesk, a New Hampshire legislative subcommittee, formed to discuss the issue, has recommended that the state's House of Representatives kill the aforementioned bill.

A subcommittee suggested that the bill be voted "ineligible to legislate", a move that would shelve the bill if approved by the House. However, the measure could be taken up during the new legislative session next year.

In an email, Rep. Bill Ohm, who serves the state's Ways and Means Committee, told CoinDesk that the subcommittee voted against the measure partly due to "liquidation risk".

"The treasurer, Bill Dwyer, testified that he needs to pay the state's bills in currency (federal funds, etc), and bitcoin is a commodity that needs to be liquidated for the state to use to pay it's bills," he said.

Ohm added that he shared Dwyer's position on the risk of the state's handling of bitcoin, explaining:

"Beyond that, I object to barter transactions involving the State that have no intrinsic value. Commodities such as gold bars, corn, wheat, chickens or cows have some intrinsic value in [New Hampshire] and can be auctioned off to an identified market when all else fails. Should the market for bitcoin collapse, like the market for our former toll road tokens, the State is likely stuck with worthless inventory."

Ohm stressed that no final decision has been made. The Ways and Means Committee will meet on 14th October to vote on its final recommendation, which will then move to the full House for a final vote on the measure, CoinDesk reported.