New York Assemblymember Phil Steck has introduced legislation imposing a 0.2% excise tax on cryptocurrency transactions. The expected annual revenue from this tax is estimated at $158 million, based on data from Chainalysis covering the period from July 2022 to June 2023. The funds will be allocated to expand substance abuse prevention and intervention programs in schools throughout upstate New York, a region deeply affected by the opioid crisis. Steck, who chairs the Standing Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, highlights the necessity of this funding as over 33 out of every 100,000 New Yorkers succumbed to drug overdoses in 2023. The proposed tax would apply broadly, impacting NFT transactions, digital assets from mining and staking, and stablecoins. The New York Department of Financial Services, which oversees cryptocurrency operations in the state, did not provide specific transaction data, prompting Steck to find alternative methods to estimate potential revenue. This initiative aligns with other state efforts to leverage tax revenues from the crypto space for educational and health-related funding.

Source 🔗