One of the most renowned cities of South America, Rio de Janeiro recently announced that its citizens would now be permitted to pay their taxes in the form of cryptocurrency from next year onwards. They have taken this decision in light of the boom in the crypto space and it would make it the first city to make this move. Furthermore, this action is actually part of a plan, which involves the city making investments in crypto assets down the road. A plan has been disclosed to show how crypto would be incorporated in the payment options that are available for taxes.
The plan was announced at a recent event by the officers of the municipality, with Eduardo Paes, the city’s mayor also in attendance. The announcement said that they would begin accepting crypto for IPTU, which is a municipal tax, beginning from next year. The municipality collects this tax and it is related to the properties of the people as well as their value. Thanks to this initiative, Rio de Janeiro would become the first city in Brazil to allow the use of crypto for tax payments. A press release said that the city would have to depend on third-party companies for completing the goal.
These companies would assist in processing the payments and would convert the crypto into fiat money. This way, the city would actually get Brazilian reals, while the citizens would be permitted to use their crypto for making payments. Mayor Eduardo Paes talked about the new proposal. He said that their goal was to clarify that there are official initiatives in the city of Rio that acknowledge and recognize the crypto space. He said that those living in the city and making crypto investments would be able to use their crypto to pay official taxes. He added that they were going to quickly move forward.
It is important to note that the city’s plan does not stop here, as far as crypto integration is concerned. Rio’s secretary of Finance and Planning, Pedro Paulo said that they are also planning on adding more services in the new payments system. Paulo said that these new services could include taxi rides. He went on to say that crypto assets could be used for stimulating culture, the arts and tourism via NFTs. He asserted that they could develop a responsible and solid governance policy for evaluating crypto investments and the realization associated with them.
In order to accomplish this last goal, the city of Rio is planning on setting up a new institution by the name of Municipal Committee for Crypto Investments. This institution would be responsible for studying the best way they could invest the funds of the city into crypto, all the while ensuring compliance with the country’s laws pertaining to public spending. This plan had been announced by the city in January. Back then, they had disclosed that 1% of the funds of the city would be invested in crypto at that time. Now, it appears they are moving forward and expanding their crypto plan.
