tax write offs
One person mentioned she enters their dog in one show a year with no interest in winning. By doing this she is able to write off everything associated with the dog. Is there any truth to this? |
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| Of it were true, I'd be getting a BIG refund every year!
Never heard of that one! |
| i hadn't either. that was one a moderate one compared to most of the things people were saying they had done. i figured i could ask here and get a correct answer. |
ChSheepdogs wrote: Of it were true, I'd be getting a BIG refund every year!!
 Oh, yes, and wouldn't that be SWEET!
I think if you run a dog related business (groomer, boarding etc) or you're a professional handler (but then someone else pays the entry fees), you can probably figure out how to benefit in certain ways. Or if you train dogs/teach dog training for a living you could probably write off some continuing education, perhaps some travel expenses and so on. But even then I don't know about entry fees. I'm sure some tax accountant somewhere is up to speed on this kind of thing. But a hobby is almost by definition something you pour money into (in dogs it's commonly known as a black hole and if you show dogs you try not to calculate how much you just spent to earn that $1.75 ribbon you coveted so badly ), not the other way around. Otherwise it would be called making a living.
I know I fork out lots of entry fees every year and not a single tax benefit to date  
Every year when I sit down to do my taxes I'm royally miffed that I can't claim my dogs as dependants. Given what it costs me to feed, educate, vet and keep them in proper shaggy attire and so on, it seems blatantly unfair that people can write-off their two legged critters and I can't write off mine
I'll grant you, I don't feel I have the right to claim my cat as a dependant. To the contrary, he's fairly independant and has been known to work for a living should duty call (excellent mouser) So he's more like domestic help. Of course, given that I've been paying him under the table (literally. come to think of it  ) because he has no social security number nor green card, I guess my being appointed to some kind of high ranking governmental position is out. It's bound to come out during the confirmation hearings 
Kristine |
| Well, I have had one tax write off....
For years we used Ollie as a farm expense. All his vet bills and dog food were an allowed deduction. I need to train Chewie a bit more before he can become our newest tax deduction. |
| it takes a lot more than just attending one show............. and the IRS are very particular........ you have to show an income generated from the 'business'. |
| a gentleman at our dog park has both his dogs registered as Therapy dogs. He says he can write off all their expenses. I do know his dogs are working therapy dogs, and they have some sort of special service qualifications that allow them to fly in the cabin of commercial airplanes, and they are NOT small, under the seat dogs. |
Darth Snuggle wrote: a gentleman at our dog park has both his dogs registered as Therapy dogs. He says he can write off all their expenses. I do know his dogs are working therapy dogs, and they have some sort of special service qualifications that allow them to fly in the cabin of commercial airplanes, and they are NOT small, under the seat dogs.
At a guess, any tax implications can only come from them being service dogs. Lots of dogs are therapy dogs -- Belle still has her pretty little ID card even though she is retired. That just means they visit nursing homes and things like that, but that doesn't make her expenses a tax write-off, nor does it gain her cabin access in planes and so on. A service dog is a working companion to a specific person. The services they've been trained to perform (think guide dogs, hearing dogs, seizure dogs, dogs who have been taught to pick up things for their most typically physically challenged owner) allow the person to live more independantly than they could otherwise and, yes, these dogs can fly in the cabin and have legally protected access to many, many venues that most other dogs do not because they need to be able to accompany the person they're trained to help. Service dogs can probably be classified as a medical expense. But a therapy dog in and of itself cannot. Or at least not legally so
Kristine |
| Hmmmm, I dunno... money as part of a charitable exercise is likely deductible as a non-cash charitable donation, but I seem to recall someone mentioning a change in that area of the tax law recently.
I don't think your time is deductible, but the training and the gas spent are/were. I don't know about dog food though. It might be hard to argue that the dog is solely for charitable purposes and you don't get any enjoyment out of it as your pet. |
| I'm not sure how legal all deductions were, I know some were begging to get caught as to why the dj would not let any callers mention last names. |
Ron wrote: I don't think your time is deductible, but the training and the gas spent are/were. I don't know about dog food though. It might be hard to argue that the dog is solely for charitable purposes and you don't get any enjoyment out of it as your pet.
Plus, a lot of therapy dogs are well suited precisely because they've been trained for competitive events (though basic manners is sufficient). I walked Belle out of the novice obedience ring where she had just finished her CD and had her tested for her TDI minutes later. Was the money I had spent on classes and so for her therapy work or her obedience title? (quite honestly, the latter). Often these areas are so gray it's hardly worth the effort. In terms of charitable work I know some rescue volunteers track certain expenses and milage, things like that, and some of that can be deductible depending on the organization they're working for, but I get a headache just thinking about it. Locally rescue is run under the umbrella of the local breed club which is not a 501c, but is a not-for profit hobby group. We use the monies we charge when we place a dog to offset (predominantly medical) costs, and if there is a deficit the club kicks in the difference from monies earned from holding our annual show, or from our annual raffles at said show and at our Christmas party. The rest, things like feeding and general care of foster dogs, as well as transportation and so on, is mostly out of pocket from volunteers. i.e. club members. On the plus side we all do our own grooming and training of our own dogs anyway, so what's one more now and again? And we're blessed to have a vet as a club member and part of the rescue committee - she and even one of her staff members donate their time - and not just to our breed rescue, being a breeder vet with an interest in repro she has a number of breeder clients with different breeds whose rescue efforts she helps out with - and charges us basically cost for materials and meds. She in turn does have to track this for tax purpose though, but then again she runs a business. We've talked about splitting rescue off into it's own 501c(3), but for liability and "legitimacy", not tax or funding raising purposes; both of the latter would probably overwhelm us since we're a tiny club and the club itself relates to our hobby (dogs). Rescue is only small part of what we do. The rest relates to our annual show, health clinics and educational efforts. If we make any money on those events we can put them into rescue as needed and call it a day. This works for us. Bottom line, for most of the population dogs are basically just an expense with no measurable tax benefits. Off to groom and train some non-deductible deadbeats
Kristine |
Darth Snuggle wrote: a gentleman at our dog park has both his dogs registered as Therapy dogs. He says he can write off all their expenses. I do know his dogs are working therapy dogs, and they have some sort of special service qualifications that allow them to fly in the cabin of commercial airplanes, and they are NOT small, under the seat dogs.
Patch is a working therapy dog; i can deduct the mileage to all her visits. |
| My dog is a therapy dog and I can claim grooming expenses and mileage to and from the nursing home. I also claim mileage for any volunteer work I do. |
| You can write off any money you spend towards volunteering.
You can also write of dog shows if you are making income from the said dog, ie., breeding, etc., but you have to report the money earned from breeding the dog(s). |
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