- Amanda Reynolds sued the IRS to classify her dog as a legal dependent under tax law
- She argued her dog relies on her for food, shelter, medical care, and daily needs
- Reynolds claimed pet expenses exceed $5,000, meeting IRS dependency criteria
An American woman has filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in an attempt to have her pet classified as a legal dependent. Amanda Reynolds, who is licensed to practice in New York and Utah, argued that her eight-year-old golden retriever, Finnegan Mary Reynolds, should qualify because the animal relies entirely on her for food, shelter, medical care, and daily necessities.
Reynolds added that the annual expenses for Finnegan exceeded Rs 4.5 lakh ($5,000), which satisfies the definition of dependency under section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code, according to a report in Forbes. Though the federal tax law caters to humans, Reynolds asked the court to determine whether pets can be recognised as non-human dependents.
She added that the current classification under which pets are categorised as property did not reflect modern household realities for pet owners who assume full financial responsibility for them, akin to a child.
“For all intents and purposes, Finnegan is like my daughter, and is definitely a ‘dependent,'” Reynolds stated in the lawsuit, adding that the claim is “not frivolous or meritless” despite its unconventional nature.
Reynolds also argued that not extending the dependent status to pets places an unfair burden on the taxpayers, especially when certain animals, like service dogs, are already eligible for limited tax-related benefits under existing rules.
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Tax Benefits
The US tax code allows taxpayers to claim two types of dependents: qualifying children and qualifying relatives. Claiming a dependent may provide access to valuable tax breaks, including the Child Tax Credit (and its refundable "additional" component), the Credit for Other Dependents, or the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
While Reynolds passionately pleaded her case, Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks granted a motion to stay the discovery process, anticipating a petition from the IRS to dismiss the case.
A 2023 Pew Research Centre survey highlighted that 62 per cent of Americans own a pet, with 35 per cent having more than one. Nearly 97 per cent claimed that their pets were part of the family.
