@rarb97 wrote:
Can I write off the guard dogs, along with their food and vet expenses? They are used to protect my chicken and chicken coop.
If you are reporting your activities as a self-employment business on schedule C, you can deduct "ordinary and necessary" business expenses.
"To be deductible, a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your industry. A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your trade or business. An expense does not have to be indispensable to be considered necessary."
Where you might get into trouble with dogs is there is an additional "but for" rule with respect to personal expenses that are also work expenses. You can only deduct business expenses that are only for the business, or another way of putting is, you would not have the expense but for the business. If these are pets, and your use of them in the business does not actually incur business-specific costs, you can't deduct the expense. If you acquired them because of the business and you would not have them if you didn't have the business, then they are deductible.
