Frequently each tax season, a client will jokingly ask me if they can claim their pet as a dependent on their tax return. Unfortunately, the answer is always “no”. However, a recently proposed congressional bill provides some hopeful news for many pet owners. With the goal being to provide financial assistance toward the increasing costs related to pet ownership, a new bill has been introduced in Congress, the People and Animals Well-Being (PAW) Act of 2024. This bill proposes that health savings accounts (HSA) and flexible spending accounts (FSA) offered by employers could be used to pay for up to $1,000 of pet veterinary care and for up to $1,000 for pet insurance premiums annually. And for service animals, any amount (unlimited costs) paid for pet veterinary care and pet health insurance premiums would qualify to be paid from HSAs and FSAs. With so many of our clients being pet owners, we’ll keep our clients updated as we learn more about the outcome of this unique bill.
