Hi mark Kohler here with another tax and legal tip let's talk about writing off your pet
That's right some sort of tax deduction for my pet my dog my cat is that really possible well
Yes, it is
And I want to give you six ways that you can take a tax write-off
and have Uncle Sam help pay for the care of your
Favorite animal now. I want to go in the order of probably the most likely method for taking a tax write-off
So we're gonna go with number one being a medical expense
That's the most common way to write off a animal right now
And that's going to be as a service animal many doctors are now prescribing pets for those with anxiety depression
children with autism and maybe even a physical disability so if you can get your physician to
Prescribe the use of a pet that it would help you medically now you can take that as a tax write-off now
Where you write it off is another
story, I've got lots of videos where I'd like you to consider looking at the health savings account if you own a small business the
Health reimbursement arrangement may be a work you have a corporate plan such as a flexible spending arrangement
And then maybe even as an itemized deduction not my favorite
And I've got videos on my website on all sorts of color care medical strategies
And I'd like you to look into that further so check out the medical expense for writing off the cost of acquisition
that
training cost food vet bills all of that can be a medical expense if you need that service animal number two a
Guard dog that's right for you business owners out there you may need a guard dog to help protect the supplies equipment
Inventory in your home office slash garage where you may have some product or material that you're selling online
Or if you have a warehouse or even a commercial property where you've got a dog at night
That's kind of hanging out in the perimeter of your commercial building now
you're not gonna be able to write off a guard dog for your personal benefit or personal use you've got to have a business and
that guard dog is there to serve as if you had a
Alarm system to protect that valuable business equipment then again you could write off the cost of acquisition
Maintenance food that bills the whole nine yards number three
Let's talk about catsby lines
But now a little factoid first here some of you may not realize that over forty four percent of households in America own a dog
Which puts it at seventy eight million dogs in America?
for
cat owners were dealing with about thirty five percent of households for over eighty five million cats in America now if you
Notice the math there there's fewer households that have a cat, but there's more cats
I think the average cat owners around one and a half cats or something
I guess if you have one cat you gotta have more anyway
So we've got a lot of cats out there as well, and if you're a business owner
You can use a cat for pest control so again if you have inventory of commercial building
supplies and equipment work you might have
Say, I guess mice or rodents getting into your supplies and equipment inventory a cat could be the perfect solution kind of interesting it was
a Disneyland the other day and Disneyland actually
From Como's they talked about the fact that you'll find around 15 cats in and around the Disney park
And they use these cats for rodent control
So over by Indiana Jones if you come out of there sometimes you'll see a cat as well
But it's a commercial enterprise and if Disneyland is gonna go pay for this cat and flop it out there
That monks the patrons that cats gonna be a write-off just as a bit was for you and your business
number four
breeding breeding pets
it's very common for people to have several animals that they might breed throughout the year and
Sell those little puppies or kittens off and make a profit now under
IRS code, you've got a couple options you could call this a hobby and
You'll have to claim the hobby income of doing this business
But you're not going to get the right off under the new tax cuts and Jobs Act. That's tcj a our
gift from the GOP and President Trump, which saves business owners a lot in taxes, but for individuals
You're no longer able to write off the expenses of a hobby
as an itemized deduction so if you're a breeder and you're doing it for profit
So I don't want you to fall under the hobby column
But it's actually a business and you're breeding you're claiming the income from this breeding all those pets
Acquisition food that bills all that is going to be a tax write-off in your breeding business number five
We've got training or showing pets now this could range from Thanksgiving
Date always a special at our house
We watched the Westminster Dog Show is we're cooking Thanksgiving dinner, but if you get onto ESPN
There's some fun shows of dogs fetching and retrieving even frisbee contests. Well. You can make money at that now again
If it's not a hobby
But a business where you are showing and training pets you're cleaning that income because you're gonna probably get a 1099
Show that it's for profit and now all those expenses for your pet again acquisition
That's food training all that is gonna be a tax write-off as well number six finally farm dogs
That's right now
I'm out in a rural area trying to get back to my roots and
Not be so stressed in the evenings and weekends so I see farms around all the time
They're not as common of course in America's they used to be but if you've got an Old Yeller
a dog that you need to help Corral
Livestock that are remote is going to be a tax write-off know that dog may even help keep away
varmints and other predators
And these dogs are a tax write-off for farmers if they can show that it's helping the farm business especially branches and things like that
So if you're still maintaining a farm in your little area of the woods
That Old Yeller is gonna be a tax write-off for you in summary down below
I've got an article that you can read over to my blog with a little more detail for those out there that want to print
this out and
Feel some real paper in your hands, maybe even share it with some of your friends or family
This could be a real benefit for you, and I'm just a firm believer that a tax return
Just isn't something you plug in and it spits out
There's some strategy involved and your pets can be a great tax write-off for you for many of you in different
Situations that can help you better save taxes and better live American dream
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