Claiming Pets On My Tax Return 2019
Claiming pet on taxes has limitations. IRS does not allow claiming pet on taxes in the general view of things. We love our pets to the point that we treat them as family spending lots of money to ensure their well being and still claiming pet as dependent is not allowed.
Maybe like me you also believe that pets are family too. After all caring for a pet is like caring for a human. As a pet owner, I bet your pet care expenses far exceeds your expectations and yet, Uncle Sam says, you can only claim that pet in certain situations which is all hog wash to me. I mean when you think of the pet grooming bill especially for cats and dogs not to mention the Vet bills the dollars do add up to substantial amounts.
I have fish for pets and expenses are nothing compared to other pet owners like a good friend of mines who had a Rottweiler named Oche, whose Vet bill alone was $1000 to $2000 a year. Add additional stuff to the Vet bill and you will be shocked. Her cats the beloved Onyx and Twinkletoes had monthly food bills of $100. That’s a lot of money which should be tax deductible considering these pets are treated like real people.
But claiming pet on taxes is disallowed because some pets do not fall in the clause that warrants them as tax exemptions. You may still be scratching your head dying to find out how can I claim pet on my tax return seeing that pets do not have social security numbers .
Well, there are some rare instances where claiming a pet as a dependent is allowable according to IRS terms. We hold our pets very dear to our hearts and in as much as some people do not consider them people there are pet related expenses that the IRS deems taxable. For example, pet owners who are moving can file the necessary forms claiming pet as dependent as in that case pets can treated as personal belongings and companions.
By Stephan Gillmeier – Own work, Public Domain, Link
In conclusion, other ways of claiming pet on taxes include the instance where, individuals would voluntarily care for animals which provide therapeutic services . Such animals would fall under the umbrella of dogs that detect allergens. These deductions would be in the form of expenses incurring from Vet visits . There’s also deductions for charitable donations, special service dogs for physically , hearing, and visually impaired persons. In the case of businesses which are in the animal breeding business, claiming pet on taxes is allowable as expenses are for care of these animals.
