Tax evasion or avoidance?

[tacks]

I know a woman who's taken in several stray dogs over the years. She takes them to the vet and gets them straightened out. (i'm fairly certain that she has, at times, found owners for them)

I told her that she can NOT, of course, deduct the veternary expenses for her pets on schedule A.

She could however deduct the contributions made to the animal shelter (provided that they're a qualified charitable organization). (she's friendly with the people at the shelter) And i would imagine that the shelter could deduct veternary and/or other expenses associated with a homeless dog -- including a homeless dog taken in by this woman.

I'm guessing that it would come down to the question of when is the woman working on behalf of the charitable institution and when is she incurring a personal expense for the care of her pet.

Initial Expenses incurred when woman takes in and cares for a homeless dog?

-- deductible expense if paid for by for the charitable org because it's consistent with what the NFP does (or so i think, i'm not an expert on NFP)

Expenses incurred in keeping the same dog that has been living with the woman for 1 year?
-- very questionable
-- if the dog was 'free to good home' as documented on a public listing posted on the shelter's bulletin board.... If the woman and/or shelter made themselves available to arrange for the 'adoption' of the stray dog then yes. Yes, deductible expense for the charitable org.
-- if the woman herself decides to keep the dog as her own then i wouldn't think that there'd be any deduction for expenses (or not a deduction that's rock solid)

Any thoughts on this? Thanks for reading.

(i realize that the amount of time i spent mulling this might not be worth any tax benefit that i find . This might now be more of a theoretical question)

[BOB W]

I know a woman who's taken in several stray dogs over the years. She takes them to the vet and gets them straightened out. (i'm fairly certain that she has, at times, found owners for them)

I told her that she can NOT, of course, deduct the veternary expenses for her pets on schedule A.

She could however deduct the contributions made to the animal shelter (provided that they're a qualified charitable organization). (she's friendly with the people at the shelter) And i would imagine that the shelter could deduct veternary and/or other expenses associated with a homeless dog -- including a homeless dog taken in by this woman.

I'm guessing that it would come down to the question of when is the woman working on behalf of the charitable institution and when is she incurring a personal expense for the care of her pet.

Initial Expenses incurred when woman takes in and cares for a homeless dog?

-- deductible expense if paid for by for the charitable org because it's consistent with what the NFP does (or so i think, i'm not an expert on NFP)

Expenses incurred in keeping the same dog that has been living with the woman for 1 year?
-- very questionable
-- if the dog was 'free to good home' as documented on a public listing posted on the shelter's bulletin board.... If the woman and/or shelter made themselves available to arrange for the 'adoption' of the stray dog then yes. Yes, deductible expense for the charitable org.
-- if the woman herself decides to keep the dog as her own then i wouldn't think that there'd be any deduction for expenses (or not a deduction that's rock solid)

Any thoughts on this? Thanks for reading.

(i realize that the amount of time i spent mulling this might not be worth any tax benefit that i find . This might now be more of a theoretical question)

My understanding of charitable contributions is that a payment must be made to the "general funds account" and payment cannot be for any specific person (dog in this case).

But maybe I should re-read your post.

[ChEAr$]

Sounds

like it is just a hobby to the lady. No income; no deductions.

Even if she "donated" the dogs to the animal shelter, her previous expenses for said
dogs were personal in nature at that time, and not even when accumulated, an amount
on which to base a tax deduction.

[erchess]

One Idea

Seems to me if she wanted to this woman could set up a charity. But there are problems with this approach on a small scale.

The charity would have to have a board that could in theory separate her from it at any time and would undoubtedly bear some responsibility if she in her operation of the charity ran "afowl" of any laws including those for the protection of animals. The charity would obviously be a no kill animal shelter. It would, I believe, be possible for the shelter to take only the animals she is already finding and caring for and not to really seek donations from anyone but her. She would simply donate funds to the shelter then use shelter funds to care for the animals. I think this would fly particularly if the shelter animals were available for adoption at a reasonable price. If she has one or more that are not up for adoption then I would think that the expenses for those animals would have to be treated as personal.

The problem is that running the charity would increase her expenses just for tax related issues to say nothing of local ordinances about animal shelters. Also her board would have some expenses even if it was only for keeping records of its minutes. The question would be which scenario for taking care of animals leaves her with the most money. Another way to put it would be whether the tax savings brought about by deducting her expenses of the activity as charitable contributions would be greater or less than the amount by which running the activity as a charity increased her expenses.

[Corduroy Frog]

Contribution

I think the deduction is substantiated, so long as the shelter is determining the activity and not the woman. As long as she is picking and choosing the animals, this is not a donation, and if she is paying a vet, it is doubtful that a veterinarian is a charity.

If the shelter can sporadically call her and have her do those things on their own picking and choosing then the donation becomes a no-strings-attached effort.

Tacks, with respect to this post, you also may be interested at looking at the doggy-doo thread started a couple days ago.

[Bees Knees]

I know of people who volunteer their time and homes for our local Animal Humane Society. They are foster parents who take in dogs and cats that are not ready to be adopted by the general public. These are animals that were originally brought to the Humane Society with personality issues. The Humane Society calls up a foster parent volunteer and says they have an animal that needs a temporary home. The foster parents then take them into their homes for a period of time to train them until they are suitable for general adoption.

Since the Humane Society is a non-profit organization and these foster parents do it for free as volunteers, any out of pocket expenses incurred by the foster parents are deductible as charitable contributions.

[tacks]

Thanks to everyone who offered their views on this situation.

Tacks, with respect to this post, you also may be interested at looking at the doggy-doo thread started a couple days ago.

Thanks. Yes i did see that thread and that's what brought this scenario to mind.

I know of people who volunteer their time and homes for our local Animal Humane Society. They are foster parents who take in dogs and cats that are not ready to be adopted by the general public....

Thanks Bees,

This is very helpful. This is an instance when the expenses involved in caring for animals can be a legitimate tax deduction. And it's not that much different from what this woman does. She might profit from this info if she decides to take in another unwanted animal in the future.

[Davc]

We had a lady locally who was managing several feral cat colonies on her own for several years. Originally, their were non deductible expenses. However, she is now doing the same thing as part of the Feral Kitty Committee which is part of the local SPCA and now those same out of pocket costs are deductible charitable contributions. (Assuming a proper acknowledgment from the SPCA)

[tacks]

Davc,

Thanks very much. That similar to what my friend is doing albeit on a larger scale.

[joanmcq]

I also know several people who foster animals for various pet related charities and another that feeds & traps/spay/neuters feral cat colonies. I've taken the expenses as donations as long as the fostering is done through a nonprofit.

[Davc]

My cat sitter occasionally feeds 15 colonies a day when the primary care takers all go on vacation at once.