Understanding Pet Tax Deductions: Are Veterinary Bills Eligible?

August 23, 2024

Veterinary bills are tax-deductible for working animals, guard dogs, and service pets. Pet owners must also meet the specific rules and qualifications set by the IRS to qualify for writing off expenses related to caring for their pets.

In truth, the Internal Revenue Service does not yet have a specific pet tax credit. As such, if you are asking, “Can I write off pet care costs?” while referring to your domestic pets or animals that you consider a member of your household, then, unfortunately, the answer is no.

If you’re surprised by that discovery, then keep reading this article to understand how veterinary tax deductions work, explore the IRS limitations in terms of what type of pet is considered tax-deductible and verify your eligibility to claim the said tax write-off.

Key Takeaways

Understanding the regulations and conditions that answer the question, “Are veterinary bills tax deductible?” helps animal owners assess more accurately their eligibility to claim their pets on their tax returns.
Veterinary bills are tax deductible as long as the pet in question is a service animal or a working animal that contributes to their owner’s income.
Aside from veterinary bills, the IRS also allows food, supplies, grooming services, pet insurance, training costs, and pet moving expenses as pet-related tax write-offs.
You can claim pet-related expenditures on your tax return as itemized deductions. Itemizing your pet expenses allows you to be more specific with all the relevant costs, coupled with providing for your service animal’s basic needs.

Can You Deduct Veterinary Bills and Other Pet Expenses?

You can deduct veterinary bills and other pet expenses from service animals or working animals.

Since the Internal Revenue Service does not consider pets as dependents, taxpayers may claim veterinary bills on taxes if their pet meets any of the following conditions or criteria:

#1. Service Animals

Service animals serve as a guide for people with visual or hearing impairments. They also assist people with mobility disabilities. The IRS Fact Sheet for FS 2015: Service Animals for Taxpayers with Disabilities provides more detailed information on the definition of a service animal.

#2. Emotional Support Animals (ESAs)

Emotional support animals (ESAs) are qualified to help treat a person’s diagnosed physical or mental condition, such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, or seizures.

When claiming your ESA on your tax return, you must prove that your animal significantly aids in treating your physical or psychological needs by acquiring an ESA letter from a practicing licensed mental health professional or other related documentation.

#3. Guard Dogs or Pets

You can also claim tax deductions on pet-related expenses for guard dogs or pets used to secure your business. Farm dogs that protect livestock and cats who hunt pests and prevent infestations in an establishment fall under this category.

#4. Performance Animals

Performance animals refer to animals appearing in television shows, advertisements, or commercials and contributing to their owner’s income.

If you have a dedicated and monetized YouTube channel or social media platform for your pet, then consider learning about influencer taxes to maximize your possible tax breaks.

5 Most Common Pet Tax Deductions

The most common pet tax deductions that you can claim generally have to do with the costs that come with providing an animal’s food, medical needs, and other basic necessities such as grooming, training, pet insurance, and supplies.

To give you more context, below are five examples of tax-deductible pet expenses that you can use to reduce the taxes you owe:

#1. Service Animal Tax Deduction

Service animal tax deduction covers a generalized number of pet-related expenses, including pet food, training, and veterinary bills. That said, you must first register your dog or animal with an authorized agency so they can get certified for their services.

When it comes to tax-deductible veterinary bills, there are several different types of vet expenses that you can itemize, namely:

Routine checkups
Dental cleaning
Vaccines
Geriatric screening
Neuter/spay
X-rays
Allergy testing
Wound treatment
Long and short hospitalizations

Once you’ve enumerated all pet care expenses for your service animal, you can claim them as a qualified medical expense.

Take note that, for the 2024 tax year, you can only claim medical expenses related to your service animal if the total costs exceed 10% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI).

If you’re an independent contractor, you can use Paystub.org’s 1099 form generator to report all your non-employee earnings in a more organized manner and attach Schedule A of Form 1040 to specify and claim medical expenses for your service pet.

#2. Pet-related Business Costs

Aside from medical expenses and tax-deductible veterinary bills, you can also use business expenses to claim pet-related business costs. These costs have to do with working animals, performance animals, or pets who play an integral role in a business or livelihood’s security and maintenance.

As such, your incurred expenditure for feeding, training, and providing shelter for dogs who protect livestock or cats who catch pests lurking in and around your store may be included in your qualified tax write-offs.

On the other hand, a guard dog tax write-off may be tricky to get approved by the IRS if the size and breed of the pet in question seem quite small to provide efficient and reliable protection for your business premises.

If tax-deductible veterinary bills require receipts and prescriptions from your vet to prove the said expense, pet-related business costs entail complete records of the animal’s work hours and schedule as supporting documents.

#3. Pet Moving Expenses

One of the many tax deductions for independent contractors involves itemizing business-related travel costs. In the same manner, you can include your pet in your moving expenses, particularly if your job requires you to move to a new place or state.

Qualifying for pet moving expenses requires that your new work location be farther by at least 50 miles from your previous residence compared to your old workplace.

At the same time, you must be a full-time employee who has completed a minimum of 39 workweeks during the first year following your relocation.

#4. Charitable Deduction

The IRS allows individuals to deduct out-of-pocket expenses and purchases incurred from caring for foster animals, provided that the animals are under a qualified tax-exempt or non-profit organization.

In addition, you can also claim or deduct the travel costs of volunteering at animal welfare shelters.

This type of pet-related expense is usually included in charitable donations. If you want to claim charitable contributions on your returns, your donations must not exceed 60% of your AGI.

Some supporting documents you must store and prepare to prove pet-related charitable deductions include acknowledgment letters from eligible charities and receipts of your purchases and expenses.

#5. Hobby to For-Profit Venture

While the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 removed miscellaneous deductions and hobby expenses, you can still use earnings generated from pet-related hobbies and interests to reduce your taxable income.

All you have to do is transform your hobby into a profit-generating venture. For instance, if you’re a professional pet trainer who enjoys teaching animal skills for entertainment purposes, you can pursue your pastime as a legitimate business instead.

In this manner, you can regulate the expenses that come with training and caring for your animals more efficiently.

To write off a portion of your taxes by using the hobby as a for-profit deduction, your business income must be worth more than three to five years of expenses tied to pursuing your hobbies.

How to Claim Pet Expenses on Your Tax Return

The key to claiming pet expenses on your tax return is to use the itemized deduction method. With a standard deduction, you are only reducing your taxable income by a fixed dollar amount.

The amount of standard deduction you can claim on your tax bill is based on your filing status.

The standard deduction amounts for each filing status in 2024 are as follows:

Single or Married filing separately: $14,600
Head of Household: $21,900
Married filing jointly or Qualifying surviving spouse: $29,900

You may be wondering whether you can write off vet bills on taxes using the standard deduction.

In reality, you can, but it may not accurately enumerate all qualifying expenses you incurred while attending to your service or working animal.

Specifically, if you itemize all pet-related expenses and find that they exceed the tax break you can claim using a standard deduction, then that means you may qualify for a bigger discount on the taxes you owe.

Let’s say your filing status is married filing separately, and you’re claiming pet-related business costs, tax-deductible veterinary bills, pet insurance, and training expenses.

Upon listing and adding all your qualified expenses, you discovered that your total itemized deductions for the year amount to $15,750, which exceeds your designated standard deduction.

Logically, it would be more beneficial to use the itemized deduction in this scenario because it means you can claim a higher deduction on your taxable earnings.

Final Thoughts

So, are veterinary bills tax-deductible? Yes, they are, but only if the vet bills cover medical expenses for service animals.

Similarly, you can claim all pet care, training, and grooming expenses as long as the costs are directly tied to operating your business or receiving much-needed assistance for your diagnosed physical and mental needs.

Understandably, accounting for tax-deductible veterinary bills and pet care costs can be quite tricky. It is crucial to stay well-informed about the different IRS and state tax regulations that affect all qualified pet-related expenditures.

Better yet, check out some of our informative tax articles below to boost your knowledge on how to navigate and fulfill your tax obligations:

Are Vet Bills Tax Deductible FAQ

#1. Is pet insurance tax deductible?

Yes, pet insurance is tax-deductible, provided that the pet being covered is a certified service animal or is capable of performing certain commands or tasks that help you generate more revenue.

#2. What is pet tax?

Pet tax, or more formally, House Bill 24-1163, Pet Animal Registration Act, is a tax proposal that seeks to levy annual taxes ranging from $8.50 to $25 per animal or pet.

The proposed bill also requires mandatory registration for all animals across the state through an online pet animal registration system. Despite its noble cause, people were quick to note the possibility that the bill may promote irresponsible pet ownership.

In recent updates, the said bill has been retracted by the sponsor after receiving strong opposition from the public.

#3. Can I claim dog food on my taxes?

You can claim dog food expenses on your taxes if the pet in question is a service animal, guard dog, or a working or performance animal. Otherwise, you may not claim expenses for your household pets since the IRS will categorize these costs as nondeductible personal expenses.