A Tax Break for Pets

One of the themes of this site is that neither Democrats nor Republicans have a monopoly on bad ideas in Washington. That's the category into which we'd place the HAPPY Act, for "Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years," introduced by Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, a Republican of Michigan. The bill would allow individuals to deduct up to $3,500 per year in pet expenses from their federal taxes. The Tax Foundation lists several reasons this would be bad policy, among them, "people can deduct expenses for their own medical care only if those costs exceed 7.5% of adjusted gross income, so the bill would give your pet's medical bills better tax treatment than your own."