The Homa Files

Ken’s Take: I say, only for pets who are in the country legally …

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The Survey Says

According to Rasmussen …

25% of voters nationwide favor a proposal that would allow pet owners to deduct up to $3,500 for “qualified pet-care expenses” for household pets.

A proposal known as the HAPPY (Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years) Act was introduced in Congress earlier this year. (Details are below)

Women like the tax break more than men.

Most voters under 30 favor the approach, but their elders strongly disagree.

Democrats are more than twice as likely to favor the pet-care tax deduction than Republicans.

Full article:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/october_2009/25_favor_tax_deduction_for_pet_expenses

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The Details

Excerpted from NOLA.com: Capitol Hill considers tax breaks for pet owners, October 13, 2009

Legislators in Washington — with support from animal rights groups — are considering a bill that pairs tax cuts and pet ownership.

The Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years Act — called the HAPPY Act — aims at helping current pet owners in these tough economic times and also hopes to encourage pet adoption through attractive incentives.

With more attention being paid to the fate of pets whose owners lose their homes, interest is growing on Capitol Hill and beyond about how the government can respond.

“Taking care of pets does cost money, and during the dramatic decline of people’s income and the shaky economy, any possibility of assisting people in meeting those costs should be looked at.”

The bill includes tax breaks not only for cats and dogs, but also for legally owned exotic pets.

Considering the costs of keeping pets, which varies between about $650 a year on average for a cat and almost $900 a year on average for a dog, a tax break would be nice for many New Orleans pet owners. A cap of $3,500 would be put on the tax break per person.

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According estimates from The Humane Society, 39 percent of American households own at least one dog, and 38 percent own at least one cat. As many as 62 percent U.S. households own a pet.

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Excerpted from NOLA.com: Capitol Hill considers tax breaks for pet owners, October 13, 2009
http://www.nola.com/pets/index.ssf/2009/10/capitol_hill_considers_tax_bre.html

This entry was posted on October 19, 2009 at 7:56 am and is filed under Taxes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.