Pets - the next tax target !

The relentless need to attract more funds is causing all tiers of government to look long and hard at new ways to increase the range of tax targets.   It seems that the family pet is now right in the cross hairs.

There certainly is a need to persuade pet owners to have their dog or cat desexed.  Animal pounds are euthanizing alarming numbers of unwanted animals each year and the breeding cycle is dumping more unwanted litters of kittens and puppies, exceeding the demand for new pets.  Council by-laws demand that ratepayers register their pets and at present this registration consists of a " one off " fee.

This fee for registering a sexually intact  dog or cat stands at $ 150, a very good reason to pay a vet fee and have the animal neutered before registration, because when you have an official desexing receipt the fee drops to a more modest $ 40.     Registered breeders also pay a $ 40 fee for each animal used for breeding, and the fee for a pensioner with a desexed dog or cat falls to $ 15.

The weakness in this pricing system is that once an intact  animal is registered, there is no incentive to have it neutered at a later stage.    New South Wales is considering a law change to make registration an annual fee, with the reasoning that having to pay $ 150 each year will persuade many pet owners to have their animal neutered to save money.

It will also very likely see a huge increase in the number of unregistered animals in private homes.  The public will not take kindly to an expenditure of $ 3000 over the lifetime of a cat that lives for twenty years, or $ 1950 on a dog's usual fifteen years lifetime, and those estimates are probably low because the fees will be linked to the annual CPI.

It also means an increase in registration policing.   Once pets become a source of greater income for any form of government you can expect the effort to extend the compliance pool to increase dramatically - and the fines for noncompliance to reach dizzy heights.   Unfortunately, it also means that more cash strapped families may consider surrendering their animal at the pound because of inability to pay annual registration fees.

This move is on hold while the entire matter gets further consideration.   No doubt the bean counters are busily weighing up the gains to treasury - and worrying about the inevitable counter backlash from an angry public.   Most likely the final decision will be some sort of compromise.   The odds would favour an annual licensing fee for pets - but at a much reduced level from the present one-off system.

It is becoming clear that all possible sources of new income will not escape the eagle eye of desperate treasurers !