It has been proposed to introduce tax deductions for the treatment of pets: what are the advantages?

Encouraging news has come from legislative circles for pet owners: if the corresponding bill is passed, they will be able to obtain tax deductions for the treatment and vaccination of their pets if they are officially registered. In this way, the state is trying to register as many pets as possible. MK looked into this initiative together with animal rights activists and pet owners.

Deputies of one of the factions proposed providing pet owners with a tax deduction for medical services, vaccination and treatment. A mandatory requirement is the official registration of the pet. To achieve this, it is proposed to amend Article 219 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The corresponding initiative has been sent to the Government of the Russian Federation.

Everyone who has cats and dogs, as a rule, spares no expense on their treatment and recovery – sometimes owners treat four-legged dogs like children, and certainly, the vast majority consider them full members of the family. And for them, such an innovation will bring tangible savings to the family budget.

“The introduction of such a norm will contribute to the quality treatment of animals and will be an excellent incentive for their widespread registration, which will help solve problems with stray dogs and cats, and will also prevent in the future such situations as happened with the cat Twix,” one is quoted as saying on the party’s website one of the co-authors of the document, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Evgeniy Markov. To do this, according to the deputy, another option is simply added to the tax legislation: as for individuals, 13% of the amount spent on treatment for the year, which in total should not exceed more than 120 thousand rubles.

We learned from experts in this field how necessary it is to register pets and what it will give.

“We, animal rights activists who fought and continue to defend the law on the responsible treatment of animals, believe that universal registration is necessary, as well as sterilization of animals that do not represent breeding value,” Svetlana, head of the animal welfare fund, expressed her opinion to MK Safonova. “This is one of the components of the law, according to which the number of stray animals will be reduced in a humane way. Now it is impossible to find and punish owners who throw animals out into the street – and there are a huge number of such cases – but registration will help to find them. I believe that if the law is passed, it will increase the number of registered animals. People actively monitor what they can get a tax deduction for. In any case, now people are trying to get a deduction for their treatment, and if they introduce such an innovation for pets, I think owners will actively use it. Because treating animals is now very expensive. And, it seems to me, the state should find money for this.

Let us remind you that now pets are already subject to mandatory registration in 13 regions – including the Moscow, Leningrad regions, etc. From March 1, 2024, they want to introduce the animal registration procedure in three more constituent entities of the Russian Federation: Stavropol Territory, Chuvash Republic and Kirov Region.

“All our cats have veterinary passports, we regularly vaccinate them, this applies to both purebred and “from the entrance,” Muscovite Anastasia, the happy owner of three cats, told MK. – The vaccination itself now costs 2000-3000 rubles, but if we take our purebred cat – a Maine Coon – then the veterinary clinic told us that they would not give her the vaccine without first checking her heart. And these are still expenses. An ECG and examination by a cardiologist cost us 6,000 rubles last year. In principle, all manipulations – tests, various examinations – in veterinary clinics cost approximately the same as for a person. Several years ago, we treated one of our cats, who came to us in a neglected condition (including stomatitis), and the cost of all medications (antibiotics) was comparable to “human” ones. Previously, we had a cat with diabetes, and we removed an abscess from one cat…

Now our three cats are more or less healthy, so every year we spend money, firstly, on their vaccination, and, secondly, on buying drops for the withers against parasites, which cost 2000 rubles. for one cat, but they only last for 2 months. If we take the summer season (4 months), then it turns out to be 12,000 rubles. for all cats. And we are still “moderate” owners, and those who have purebred pets spend much more money on them, buy them the most expensive medicines. Another question is whether parasite remedies will be included in the total amount of treatment for tax deduction?

The fact that prices for the treatment of animals really bite, as sometimes do the patients themselves, can be seen from the example of the prices of one of the Moscow veterinary clinics: initial examination by a therapist – 500 rubles, general stool analysis – 900 rubles, extended blood test – 1750 rubles, ultrasound one abdominal organ – 1400 rubles, opening an abscess, hematoma in a cat – 900 rubles, applying a plaster cast (excluding consumables) – 2500 rubles, extended echocardiography (ECHO) – 2500 rubles, chemotherapy 1 session (excluding cost of drugs) – 3100 rub. etc.

Another question is whether the state will have money for this initiative? Some well-known economists are already saying that this is far from being a priority task for the state in the current economic realities.