Pet owners beware! Govt wants to tax your furry friends

The government’s economic delegation is considering adding pets to its asset declaration in the framework of the modernization of the tax system. This means that pet dogs, cats, canaries, etc. will be included in structural reforms being promoted by the government. The plan for pet inclusion in the new system has already een sent to the quartet of Greek creditors from the European Commission, European Central Bank, European Stability Mechanism and International Monetary Fund.

Pet owners may find themselves filing an additional declaration in 2016 as an addendum to the 4th page of their E1 tax declaration as it is believed that pet expenses will give the government a clearer account of people’s financial situation. Pet owners will need to list the breed of their animal and its size so that the government would be able to ascertain the value of the pet as an “asset.”

There will be an objective value placed on the pet to drop according to the age of the pet. Furthermore, pet owners would also need to give an account of maintenance costs of keeping their pets.