The Government of Innisfil, a city located in Ontario, Canada, approved a pilot project that will allow residents to pay their property taxes through bitcoins
The representatives of the city of Innisfil, which has a population of approximately 36,000 people, recently partnered with the Coinberry Limited company, based in Toronto, Canada, which will provide the crypto payment service for residents for at least one year. It is part of a pilot project that was drawn up by the company and that will be an alternative for the organization of that city located in Ontario.
According to the information provided by the authorities of Innisfil, on March 27 the Council voted and approved the use of cryptographic, initially with bitcoins, for the payment of taxes. The strategy will be launched between the end of March and the beginning of April of this year, when many residents of the city located on the west coast of Simcoe Lake pay their second installment on property taxes.
The mayor of Innisfil, Lynn Dollin, spoke about the project: “Once again, we are proud to be the first to take this bold step by offering this new and exciting payment option to our residents. We are making sure that our municipality is at the forefront of the game”, she said.
In this aspect, the official added that “there is no doubt” that cryptocurrencies are growing in popularity and use. For that reason, by opening the doors to the world of cryptocurrencies, according to Dollin, the city of Innisfil will be signaling to the world that it is really an innovative community so it is ready for the near future.
An Automatic Process
Once the payment project with cryptoactives is launched, residents will instantly see a new payment option appear on the city’s website, where they will have the option to pay their taxes with bitcoins.
Initially, tax payments will be made with bitcoins, but in the future, the municipal council plans to add other cryptocurrency options such as Ether, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ripple, according to the information reviewed in local media.
The service will use the city’s crypto portfolio with Coinberry Pay, a cryptocurrency payment solution, and will comply with existing financial regulatory requirements. Coinberry will immediately convert the bitcoin funds into funds expressed in the Canadian currency and will be transferred to Innisfil city accounts to cover the expenses of municipal services and benefit the citizens of the land located about 80 kilometers from Toronto. That is the plan that the authorities have so far.
“The leaders of all levels of government, who are the first to recognize the benefits of the new monetary economy, will be the first to reap the rewards”, said Andrei Poliakov, CEO and Co-founder of the Coinberry Limited platform.
The businessman explained that they are “extremely pleased” to mark a “milestone” in the history of the adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in Canada.
Last year, Ohio, in the United States, became the state first to allow companies to pay taxes using Bitcoin, through an online portal created by the Treasury Office of the state. Since then, other cities have joined, such as California at the beginning of March and, now, Innisfil, in Canada, too.
By María Victoria Rodríguez
