It can still be cheaper for you, bitcoins become taxable income at the point they are realised i.e. converted to fiat. As someone making payments in BTC int he

It can still be cheaper for you, bitcoins become taxable income at the point they are realised i.e. converted to fiat. As someone making payments in BTC int he way described (by BTC with USD, pay freelancer BTC) there is little difference between paying in BTC or USD. However the freelancer is the one who will dealw itht he tax implications and as he/she has elected to be paid in BTC you can defer responsibility to them. Aditionally if you are paying someone in a differnt country or otherwise would have to use a different currency then you will probbably see savings in BTC as there is no conversion to, e.g. EUR, no bank transfer/international wire fees, and the freelancer may also take less in BTC than in USD due to the ease of transferring the coins to them as oposed to going through the banking system and it taking 14 days.