Rio de Janeiro to Accept Cryptocurrency Payments for Taxes (Report)

Cryptocurrency adoption comes in different forms these days, but it seems that countries and cities are becoming more open to the idea of allowing certain payments to be made using such assets. Brazil’s second-largest city said it wants to become the first within the nation’s borders to accept BTC payments for taxes.

• The report from Bloomberg Linea outlined the announcement from the city of Rio De Janeiro indicating that residents will be able to pay IPTU (Imposto Sobre a Propriedade Predial e Territorial Urbana) using digital assets as of next year.
• The municipality wants to work with companies specialized in converting cryptocurrencies into Brazilian real, reads a note from the City Hall. Meaning, once locals transfer the crypto funds, they will be automatically converted into fiat.
• Back in January, the city’s mayor introduced a working group focusing on how to accelerate the usage of cryptocurrencies to boost the local economy.
• The note from the City Hall outlined the creation of a Municipal Committee for Crypto investments (CMCI), which will mitigate risks and develop regulatory frameworks.
• The report informed that the city wants to enter the non-fungible token world as well. Some suggestions emerged to create NFTs with images of tourist attractions.
• Brazil has been among the countries with a more open stance on the digital asset industry, greenlighting one of the first Bitcoin ETFs last year.
• Additionally, reports surfaced in February 2022 claiming that the Senate is preparing to vote on a crypto regulation bill.
• A survey from September 2021, shortly after El Salvador legalized bitcoin, concluded that nearly half of Brazilians support the idea of adopting the primary cryptocurrency.