Close X
Monday, December 2, 2024
ADVT 
National

Growing Number Of Workers Choosing To Be Paid With Bitcoin: Payroll Firm

Ethan Lou, The Canadian Press, 01 Sep, 2014 11:47 AM
    A small but growing — and surprising — number of workers are rejecting Canadian dollar salaries for Bitcoin, according to a Waterloo, Ont., payroll firm.
     
    Wagepoint CEO Shrad Rao said his firm came up with the cryptocurrency payment option in November last year as a side project and did not expect any take-up.
     
    But as the online currency gained popularity this year, he said, employees from 10 firms have signed up for the Bitcoin option, and many more are asking about it.
     
    "When we started off, we didn't even think we'll get one," he said over the phone from New York, where Wagepoint has another office.
     
    "What's interesting is that we've actually had customers come to us because of the (Bitcoin) integration, which we were not expecting at all."
     
    Rao said the firms are overwhelmingly technology companies, whose workers have higher interest in new innovations and tend to dabble more.
     
    In addition to Canadian interest, he said gets about five inquiries for Bitcoin payment per month from the United States, where Wagepoint also operates, although it has not yet launched such an option in that country.
     
    Bitcoin, a decentralized currency, was launched in 2009 by a yet unknown person or group. It gained mainstream attention in 2013, and subsequent adoption caused one bitcoin to rise to a high of $1,000.
     
    But most brick-and-mortar shops still do not recognize Bitcoin as currency, and neither does the Canadian government, which in June ruled Bitcoin is property.
     
    Canada Revenue Agency spokesman Noel Carisse said paying employees in Bitcoin means paying them in goods — "a barter transaction."
     
    "The goods — the Bitcoin, in the case of digital currency — must be valued and reported in Canadian dollars," he said in an email.
     
    "The employee would then include the appropriate amount on their tax return for the year as employment income. Any tax payable would have to be paid in Canadian dollars."
     
    For Wagepoint, however, it works differently. Rao said for tax purposes, employees are still being paid with Canadian dollars on paper.
     
    He said workers can have all or part of their wages in bitcoins, and taxes are taken from the Canadian dollar salary before the remainder is converted.
     
    "Really, it's (about) what you do with your personal income at that point," he said. "If you bought a boat with it or invest in Bitcoin — I'm not sure that's very different from each other."
     
    But the payment system will not likely have mass adoption until there is regulation and widespread acceptance for Bitcoin, according to an expert.
     
    Cissy Pau of the Vancouver-based Clear HR Consulting, which deals with small businesses, predicts being paid in virtual currency will not expand beyond the tech world because there are currently too few places to spend it.
     
    "Tech companies, I can see that," she said. "But I just can't see that in, say, Canada Post, a more traditional-type company with more traditional-type workers. I would suspect that people will be highly skeptical."
     
    Currently, even those who earn exclusively in bitcoins cannot escape traditional currency.
     
    Michael Perklin of Bitcoinsultants does business in the virtual currency and has not earned Canadian dollars since February, but does not use Bitcoin directly in most day-to-day transactions.
     
    Perklin said he uses third-party services that allow him to make regular purchases and bill payments in Bitcoin, and also sells bitcoins for cash.
     
    For instance, Perklin's mortgage is paid for through a Canadian dollar chequing account where he deposits funds after selling bitcoins on online exchanges.
     
    Perklin said living completely without traditional currency may be possible in the future, but it is difficult to do right now.
     
    "I have to interact with Canadian currency," he said. "That's a fact of live in the country I live in."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Ex-Tory staffer Michael Sona guilty of election fraud in robocalls case

    Ex-Tory staffer Michael Sona guilty of election fraud in robocalls case
    Former Conservative party staffer Michael Sona has been convicted of trying to prevent voters from casting ballots during the 2011 federal election.

    Ex-Tory staffer Michael Sona guilty of election fraud in robocalls case

    Leaders of polygamous sect in B.C. charged five years after failed prosecutions

     Two leaders of an isolated religious commune in British Columbia have been charged for the second time with practising polygamy, more than two decades after...

    Leaders of polygamous sect in B.C. charged five years after failed prosecutions

    B.C. First Nation plans to evict company behind mine tailings spill

    B.C. First Nation plans to evict company behind mine tailings spill
    A British Columbia First Nation plans to issue an eviction notice to Imperial Metals Corp. (TSX:III) — the company behind a massive tailings pond...

    B.C. First Nation plans to evict company behind mine tailings spill

    Tekmira in talks about using experimental Ebola drug in infected patients

    Tekmira in talks about using experimental Ebola drug in infected patients
    Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. (TSX:TKM) is in discussions about making its experimental Ebola drug available to infected patients, but says there is no...

    Tekmira in talks about using experimental Ebola drug in infected patients

    Supreme Court of Canada won't hear appeal from Ontario raw milk farmer

    Supreme Court of Canada won't hear appeal from Ontario raw milk farmer
    The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear an appeal from an Ontario farmer who has long championed the right to sell and drink unpasteurized milk....

    Supreme Court of Canada won't hear appeal from Ontario raw milk farmer

    Vancouver's B2Gold reports Q2 net loss on increased gold production

    Vancouver's B2Gold reports Q2 net loss on increased gold production
    B2Gold Corp. says it's expecting another solid year for gold production while reporting about a four per cent increase in its second quarter....

    Vancouver's B2Gold reports Q2 net loss on increased gold production