Dog and cat bonus, decree signed: who can apply and how

With a long delay, the (few) funds have arrived to get the long-awaited animal bonus provided for in the 2024 budget law off the ground. The manoeuvre of a year ago in fact established the fund to support pet owners in the payment of veterinary visits and veterinary surgeries as well as the purchase of veterinary medicines. The State-Regions Conference has in fact given the go-ahead to the decree with the criteria for distributing the funds among the regions and the requirements and methods of access, starting with the fact that dog and cat owners will have to prove that they have an Isee of less than EUR 16,215 and are over 65 years of age, but also that they have registered the animal in the national database. The bonus - a total of one million for several years - will be accessed on the basis of applications in order of receipt.

The fund has a funding for the three-year period 2024-2026 of EUR 250,000 for the year 2024, and EUR 237,500 for each of the years 2025 and 2026. The fund can be accessed by pet owners identified and registered in the national database, Sinac section, or in the regional databases for the identification of pets who, as of 1 January 2024, incur expenses for veterinary examinations, operations, laboratory analyses, and the purchase of medicines, who have an Isee of less than 16,215 euros and who, on the date of incurring these expenses, are 65 years of age or older. In order to access the fund, 'each interested party,' the decree warns, 'must submit an appropriate application to the region in which they reside in accordance with the procedures identified by each region, indicating the registration number in the National Data Bank, Sinac section, or in the regional databases of the animal owned and the Isee indicator and attaching the documentation relating to the expenses incurred.

'Each region defines the extent of the contribution to be allocated for expenditure'. But with what priority can the funds be accessed? Here, too, the approved decree responds, providing that each region 'will process applications for access to the fund on the basis of the order in which they are received and up to the amount allocated by the allocation'. In practice, whoever submits the application first will have priority. Moreover, the same decree provides that 'each region shall communicate to the Agenzia delle Entrate the data on the reimbursements granted to applicants for the purpose of processing the pre-compiled income tax return'. Veterinary expenses, like health expenses, are in fact deductible in the tax return.

The bonus is not to be confused with the possibility of benefiting from the 19% Irpef discount on veterinary expenses, which was already possible before. When filing a tax return, entering certain expenses results in a deduction, i.e. a reduction in the tax payable. According to the Income Tax Consolidation Act, expenses incurred for animals legally kept for companionship or sporting purposes are deductible. As is the case for medical expenses, the allowance only applies above the amount of EUR 129.11 and up to the limit of EUR 550 up to a maximum value of about EUR 80. In particular, when the cost for the care of dogs, cats or other animals is less than EUR 129.11, there is no deduction. When the value of EUR 129.11 is exceeded while remaining within the limit of EUR 550, the 19 per cent deduction will have to be calculated on the portion that exceeds the deductible (the difference between the expenses incurred and EUR 129.11).