[Blockchain Today Reporter Seo-yeon Jang] US lawmakers in Kentucky are considering tax cuts for cryptocurrency miners.
Kentucky lawmakers approved several state tax incentives, including House Bill 230, which would remove the sales tax on electricity purchased by cryptocurrency miners on Tuesday (local time), Cointelegraph reported.
The Lexington Herald leader reportedly said that Kentucky lawmakers voted 19-2 on the new move. Looking at the bill’s accounting, it is estimated that the local budget will cost more than $1 million a year. Legislators said, “The exact cost has not been calculated to date because we don’t know how many companies are going to our state for this exemption.
Proponents of the bill are said to have argued that “Kentucky needs to attract more cryptocurrency mining businesses by providing tax benefits on consumed electricity.” Representative Stephen Rudy emphasized that cryptocurrency mining should be supported by the state’s internal industry.
“Cryptocurrency mining takes a lot of electricity, so it has a very big impact on industry-type companies. Not many people sitting in the basement of their parents’ homes writing code. This is actually a very sophisticated and technical part,” he argued. .
Kentucky has been trying to attract the cryptocurrency business primarily. In January 2021, Kentucky economic development officials approved a tax incentive to open a cryptocurrency mining business in Paducah, with a total investment of $28 million in a blockware mine. The Kentucky Senate is also pushing the Senate’s Bill 255, its own tax credit bill for cryptocurrency mines.