Kelly Bullis: Can you deduct costs of dog or cat?

For all of you who’ve been to my office, you know we have an office dog named Chip, and occasionally, his “little brother” the cat, named Bo.

Our clients love Chip and Bo and so do our employees. But can I deduct the cost of maintaining them as a legitimate business expense. In my case, no, Chip and Bo are not tax deductible.

For a dog or cat to be a business expense, they must be either guard dog, or pest control (cats get mice, snakes, etc.).

To deduct a dog or cat for medical expenses, there are several considerations and categories. First, the animal must be used primarily for medical care AND you would not have paid the expenses but for the disease or illness involved.

Service animals. In reality, the definition of “service animal” is for guiding people who are blind/low vision; alerting people who are deaf/hard of hearing to sounds; carrying and picking up things for people with mobility disabilities; alerting and protecting people who have seizures; reminding people with mental illness to take prescribed medications; or calming people with post-traumatic stress disorder during an anxiety attach. Service animals are usually professionally trained, but they don’t have to be. If you train your service animal yourself, keep records showing the training that occurred, methods used, etc.

The Americans with Disability Act has a definition of “service animals.” The act says owners are legally entitled to take them into public places with them so long as the animal is under their control.

Now let’s get to an even more controversial topic. “Emotional support animals.” Emotional support animals help individuals who are suffering from mental and/or emotional disabilities. They are not the same as “service animals” because they are not trained to perform a specific task for a person with a disability.

Emotional support animals are more difficult to deduct because they can seem a little different from regular pets. They would be deductible if you have the animal primarily to help with a mental and/or emotional disability AND you wouldn’t otherwise have the animal. (That last part usually shoots down most folks who want to deduct their “emotional support” animals. If the IRS finds out you love pets, have had them in the past without the “emotional support” designation, you’re sunk.) It would help to have a licensed health care provider prescribe such an animal and that it is documented to be part of your treatment plan. (Ideally, you shouldn’t already own the animal until you receive the prescription.)

What costs can you take if you are allowed? Food, bedding, boarding, training, grooming supplies and fees, veterinary care, medications and pet insurance.

Have you heard? Job 35:10-11 says, “But no one says, Where is God my Maker who gives us songs in the night, who teaches us more than the animals of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?”

Kelly Bullis is a Certified Public Accountant in Carson City. Contact him at 775-882-4459. On the web at BullisAndCo.com. Also on Facebook.