Brazilian secretary Pedro Paulo announced that Rio de Janeiro will become the country’s first city to accept crypto as a legitimate form of payment for taxes related to urban real estate within the city limits, otherwise known as Imposto sobre a propriedade predial e territorial urbana (IPTU).
This announcement was made during the ‘Carioca Criptoactivity’ event and it was further announced that the municipality will hire companies to carry out conversions of crypto assets into Reais (Brazilian currency). These new laws will be implemented from 2023.
“We are going to stimulate the circulation of cryptocurrencies, integrating them with the payment of taxes, as in the case of IPTU and, in the future, this may be extended to services such as taxi rides, for example,” said Pedro.
Pedro Paulo along with Chicão Bulhões also announced the formation of the Municipal Committee for Crypto investments (CMCI). This committee will be responsible for defining and refining, based on risk and profitability analysis, to enable investments of crypto assets considering the rules and limitations of public administration in the use of public money.
The policies formed by this committee should be compliant with the regulations and guidelines of the Central Bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The cryptocurrency universe is yet another important segment with great potential to further develop Rio’s economy, in this area of innovation and technology ” said Chicão Bulhões, Secretary of Economic Development, Innovation and Simplification of Rio.
This announcement was followed by Chengpeng Zao, the founder of Binance tweeting the company’s plan to open an office in Rio. The announcement was received warmly by the Brazilian Mayor Eduardo Paes.
The Mayor has also stated, “Our effort here is to make it clear that in the city of Rio we have official initiatives that recognize this market. Now those who invest in cryptocurrency and live in the city of Rio will be able to spend this asset here paying official tax in the city of Rio. And we’re going to move forward quickly. ”
Brazil at any time is making several moves in the crypto industry simultaneously. Banco Central do Brasil (BACEN), the Central Bank of Brazil is also actively working towards the development of ‘Real Digital’, a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
