We all know folks who talk about the pets like they are their kids — and seemingly spoil them in a way that would make any parent blush.
But should they get a tax credit for doing so?
Perhaps surprisingly, a majority of Jerseyans say, ‘Yes.’
At least that was the finding in an FDU Poll released Wednesday. It found (by a 45%-41% margin) that more voters are more likely to support the idea than oppose it.
Dan Cassino, a professor of Government and Politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and the Executive Director of the FDU Poll, connected the dots.
“Some people do think of their pets as being like children,” he said. “So, the logic is that if children get a tax credit, pets should as well.”
The pet tax credit is proposed in Assembly Bill 4995, sponsored by Assemblyman Alex Sauickie (R, Jackson).
Under the bill, pet owners would get a $300 tax credit — meaning that they could take $300 off their state tax bill, as opposed to a deduction, which simply reduces the amount of table income — and up to $600 more for pet veterinary care.
Overall, 45 percent of voters say that they support such a measure, with 41 percent saying that they oppose it. Support is slightly higher among Democrats, and among young voters.
“There are reasonable questions to be asked about how regressive such a tax break would be,” Cassino said. “But people have pets, and people like money, so theories of taxation probably aren’t coming into how they’re thinking about this.”
Methodology: The survey was conducted between June 23-30, using a voter list of registered voters in New Jersey carried out by Braun Research of Princeton. Respondents were contacted via text-to-web (TTW) surveys sent to cellular phones, resulting in an overall sample of 1,211 registered voters in the state. Surveys were conducted only in English.
