Tax rebate for pet owners

[PoodleMommy]

I think your all missing the point or didnt read the link.

Acquisition fees of ANY kind would not be included... the point of the bill is to encourage TAKING CARE of your dog AKA vet bills, food, etc.

So you are in essence saying that only shelter dogs are worth being taken care of.

[Lilavati]

Since I'm too lazy to read the bill . . . I can see why you would get a break for the adoption fee, which is basically a donation, but not for purchase. But do you only get tax breaks for care if it is an adopted animal? That doesn't strike me as at all fair. The adoption fee vs. purchase price yes, but care should be a break either way, if you are going to make pets tax deductable.

As for whether they should . . . well, it makes as much sense as many deductions, and more than some. On the other hand, it does seem unfair to non pet owners . . . but perhaps you'll see people pushing harder for pet-friendly rules for apartments and such if they can take a deduction. Perhaps. It will definately help the poor who have pets. I bet it phases out with income though . . .

And some adoption fees are deductable, I think, at least in theory. I was told that Docket's was, because I was not actually required to pay it, and there was no set ammount. I was told what the standard donation was, but I could pay what I liked. I paid more, actually. I really should know the answer to this, but I have to admit, since I still take the standard deduction, I didn't look it up Never was a fan of tax law. My guess is that the corgi rescue is using a loophole that would probably work, but I wouldn't want to explain it to the auditor.

[MericoX]

I could see it as being a good way to find millers.... oh you tried to deduct 50 dogs... think we'll check in on you... but could also backfire on people like breeders. Or maybe people are over their limit where they live.. too bad so sad we have to take an animal.

Or someone isn't registered with their town... animals that aren't *properly* vaccinated...

[Beanie]

No, Lilavati, it's just a straight deduction for care. There's no difference if it's an adopted animal or a purchased animal, it's just straight up "These were my expenses that are allowable deductions," and you take them. It's just if you bought the animal from a breeder, or if you adopted from a shelter, whatever you paid to whoever you paid to GET the dog is not an allowable expense under this bill. The bill isn't totally clear but at the very least it does define vet care as an allowable expense.

That's cool that you could have taken the adoption fee as a deduction! I donated to a local Boston Terrier Rescue and they sent me a receipt... I bought a cookbook from them and then donated on top of that, and my receipt is for the donation AND the cost of the cookbook... I still don't know what to do about that. I'm not positive if I can truly take off the full amount since I bought the book. =P I don't think it's accurate...


Mer, it doesn't have anything to do with how many animals you have. It's a set dollar amount regardless of number of pets. It's deductions based on what you spend under the allowable deductions (which that's the part I quoted, it's rather hazy.)
If a dog wasn't properly vaccinated, which in most places is going to mean rabies, then they wouldn't have vet expenses (the vaccination) to deduct. So that wouldn't matter.

It's not about "claiming" your animals like you claim a withholding on your taxes - at least, this bill isn't. It's about keeping receipts and having those expenses to deduct when you file. It's like deducting your charitable donations when filing... and unless you are audited the government won't even know WHO you donated to. All you do is have your receipt from the organization(s) that say what you donated for YOUR records, you deduct that amount, and you're all done.
So again, you aren't going to be sending in your vacc records either, so you couldn't get "caught" that way either. You're just saying "I spent $x on vet care and food."
Does that make sense...?

Of course people could lie (people lie on their taxes all the time, sadly) and again, unless they are audited and asked to show proof of those expenses, they aren't going to get caught.

[ACampbell0304]

While I'm a skeptic of the government I like the idea of it.

I have this suspicion that spay and neuter would be the major deductions on the vet care, to promote that...which really isn't a bad idea. It might also promote more people to license and get their pets up to date on shots etc, which is also a good thing.

[Lilavati]

Thinking about this a bit more clearly, now that it is morning . . . this won't help the poor much. These are deductions, not credits, and most genuinely poor people don't pay much in income tax to begin with. The group this will help is the middle class, since I'm sure it will phase out for the well-off. That makes it nice, but perhaps not especially useful, since the people who really need help are the ones who don't pay much, if any income tax (they get hit with payroll tax). Also, most poor people don't itemize deductions . . .