Can You Deduct Vet Bills and Pet Costs on Your Taxes? Service Animals, the 7.5% Floor, and Foster Expenses

Pet costs are personal expenses by default

Pet upkeep is a personal expense. Publication 501's dependent rules are written around people, so a dog or cat cannot be claimed as a dependent.

Service animals can count as a medical expense

Publication 502 lets you include "the costs of buying, training, and maintaining a guide dog or other service animal" that assists a person who is visually impaired, hearing disabled or has another physical disability. Maintenance includes food, grooming and veterinary care. The publication does not address emotional support animals or ordinary pet vet fees. For the price side of that distinction, see what service dog and ESA paperwork really costs.

The 7.5% floor is the real hurdle

Medical expenses are deductible on Schedule A only to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). At $60,000 AGI the floor is $4,500, so the first $4,500 of all medical costs, including the service animal's, gets you nothing.

You must itemize, and the bar went up

Schedule A only helps if your itemized deductions beat the standard deduction. For tax year 2025 that is $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for married couples filing jointly. Run both totals before you spend time on receipts.

Fostering for a rescue may count as a charitable expense

Publication 526 allows volunteers to deduct certain unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses for a qualified organization. The expense must be directly connected with the services, incurred only because of them, and not personal, living or family costs. You cannot deduct the value of your time. The publication does not spell out animal fostering, so preparers apply that volunteer rule: food and supplies you bought for a foster animal, unreimbursed, could qualify. Charitable mileage uses a flat 14 cents a mile.

What to keep if you foster

• A letter or email from the rescue confirming you fostered for it, and the dates.
• Written acknowledgment from the organization for any single contribution of $250 or more.

Anything the rescue pays directly is not yours to deduct.

Where owners can lower costs without a deduction

Monthly insurance premiums and wellness plans carry no tax offset for most owners. For a surprise bill, an emergency vet visit breakdown shows which line items to question.

Checklist before you file

• Is it a service animal for a person with a physical disability?
• Do medical costs pass 7.5% of AGI, and do itemized deductions beat the standard deduction?
• Did a qualified rescue place the foster animal with you, and are you unreimbursed?

Sources: IRS Publication 502 (2025) and Tax Topic 502; IRS Publication 526 (2025); IRS Publication 501; IRS 2025 standard deduction amounts. Tax rules change and apply to your own return, so confirm with a tax professional. This is cost and tax information, not veterinary advice or tax advice; ask your veterinarian about your pet's care.