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Border collies as tax deductions?


gcv-border
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This question just popped into my head today out of nowhere ---

 

Do any of you take your Border Collies as tax deductions? i.e. deduct purchase of collie, food, vet bills, etc.

 

This is probably only allowable if you are a pursuing livestock raising as a business. I would be interested in hearing of any experiences.

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I have thought about it in the past and I think you can do it, but you would have to be making income from farming or other activities (for example, if I report the income I make setting sheep, then I could probably deduct some percentage of the care and upkeep of the dogs I use for that job, but I imagine it wouldn't amount to much) to deduct against. Most hobby farmers aren't making much in the way of income, so they probably couldn't deduct.

 

J.

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If you're involved volunteering with a non-profit organization (SAR or therapy dog) you may also be able to deduct dog expenses. You can in a business (training, bed bug detection, etc) but the dogs then become business assests so certain legal actions could result in your dog being ordered to be sold to cover a lawsuit or bankruptcy.

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Yes, the business end of farming (or maybe goose control) was what I was getting at. I hadn't thought about SAR dogs. To make it simple, if one is full-time sheep farming (some of those western herds are huge) and have a few dogs - which we all know can be worth their weight in gold - I would think that deductions related to border collie upkeep are fully deductible as a business expense. In my eyes, they are employees and should be expensed as such. I realize an accountant and the IRA may have a different viewpoint.

 

How about the dogs that are sold at the annual stockdog auction? (I forget the name.) They can bring quite a nice price. I am assuming the seller has to claim the selling price as income, and would the buyer (if a full-time farmer looking for a working dog) be able to claim the purchase price and subsequent expenses as deductions.

 

I agree that part-time farming would be a grey area for deductions, but that could depend on tax advice received.

 

Note: I only have pet dogs so in no way does this discussion affect me.

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Yup, we claim all the expenses and the sales, our livestock is actually claimed against the dog breeding program as a expense, basically offsets our income so as we don't have to pay income tax on our gross dog sales. We also will depreciate the purchase price of a new dog over time if we don't have extra income that year.

 

We have customers that don't breed but use their dogs in their cattle operation, all the vet bills, food, etc. are claimed as expense of the cattle operation. The dog purchase price would be claimed just the same as if they were buying a quad or a tractor.

 

 

The key is that there is income generated to use the expense against. If no income then there is no deduction that can be claimed. But every puppy or dog sale we make has to be reported to the state and on our federal return, if you don't claim your expenses it can result in quite a bit of extra tax being due.

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Yes. All expenses related to the dogs and the livestock are part of the tax picture. Food, vet bills, stud fees, trial expenses, etc. are expenses, and selling lambs, selling pups or dogs, trail winnings, and judging and doing setout are income. Training dogs and raising livestock are a business for me, so my tax guy files a Schedule C (profit and loss from farming) for me,

A

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We also claim expenses, depreciation, etc., on our dogs since we have a farm (and file a Schedule F) that we actively use them on for managing our livestock. I did claim Megan until her hearing was so far gone that she was no longer of reasonable use for working cattle but I legally should not have needed to do so.

 

Actually, for the many years we have used dogs, I have only deducted cattle-work training (professional clinics and things like travelling to Anna's to train Dan) and not sheep-work training (like training with friends) because even though I could have, I felt that for myself, this was a gray area between what I *needed* to do in terms of training and what I was doing because I *enjoyed it* in terms of training.

 

I also deduct veterinary expenses for my dogs but not day-to-day expenses like food because I'd have a dog (or few) anyway. I know that I could deduct all but again, that's just my choice. It's cost me some in taxes that I don't deduct those expenses that I choose not to deduct, but I feel comfortable with my choices.

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Yes if the farm or training or breeding ... is run as a business then there are deducations and income to be claimed. If it is a hobby or just enjoyment with an expense then no. I would imagine the professional trainers take their trial expenses for those dogs as a deduction.

 

I will say the areas of the country were stock dogs are more common it is easier than in parts of the country where this is not the norm.

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