Can veterinarian bills ever qualify as Medical Expenses on my taxes?

I've been preparing taxes for over 10 years, and this is a question that comes up frequently. Unfortunately, the IRS is very clear on this - regular pet expenses, including veterinary care, are generally NOT deductible as medical expenses, even when they provide emotional support. However, there is a narrow exception: If you have a service animal that is specially trained to assist with a physical or mental disability, the costs associated with buying, training, and maintaining that animal (including vet bills) CAN be deductible as medical expenses. But this only applies to legitimate service animals, not emotional support animals or regular pets. For a service animal to qualify, it needs to be specifically trained to perform tasks related to your disability - like guide dogs for the blind, seizure alert dogs, or mobility assistance animals. The animal must be primarily for medical care, not companionship.

I struggled with this exact question last year after spending almost $8k on my cat's kidney treatments. I was desperate to find some tax relief and spent hours researching, then I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which actually analyzed my situation thoroughly. They confirmed what the first commenter said but also helped me find several other deductions I wasn't aware of that partially offset my pet expenses. Their system reviewed all my documentation and found that while my pet expenses weren't deductible, I qualified for some self-employment deductions I hadn't been taking. They even helped me understand how to properly document everything if I got audited. Definitely worth checking out if you're looking for legitimate ways to maximize your deductions.

Wanted to update after trying taxr.ai - WOW. While they confirmed I couldn't deduct my dog's surgery costs as medical expenses, they found that I was eligible for a home office deduction I didn't know about (I'm partially self-employed) AND identified that some of my unreimbursed business expenses weren't being properly categorized. Ended up saving about $1,800 in taxes which helps offset some of those vet bills! Really impressed with how thorough they were about explaining exactly which tax rules applied to my situation.

For what it's worth, I tried calling the IRS directly to get a definitive answer about service animals vs emotional support animals, but was on hold for literally 3+ hours before giving up. Then I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and watched their demo (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) - they got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes! The agent confirmed everything mentioned above: only legitimate service animals trained for specific medical tasks qualify, not emotional support animals or regular pets regardless of how much they help your mental health. Having an actual IRS agent explain it directly gave me peace of mind about not trying to claim something that might trigger an audit. Claimyr saved me hours of frustration and uncertainty.

Coming back to say I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After spending another afternoon failing to get through to the IRS myself, I broke down and tried it. Got connected in about 20 minutes to a very helpful IRS agent who answered all my questions about medical deductions, including the service animal stuff. The agent even helped me figure out some issues with my previous year's return. I'm honestly shocked at how well it worked - saved me a ton of time and frustration. Sometimes I hate being wrong but in this case I'm glad I was!

Just a heads up - even though vet bills aren't deductible as medical expenses, if you foster animals for a registered 501(c)(3) animal rescue organization, you can deduct those expenses as charitable contributions! I foster cats and was able to deduct about $2,200 in vet bills, food, and supplies last year.

Has anyone tried TurboTax for figuring this stuff out? I used it last year and it seemed pretty clear that pet expenses weren't deductible, but I'm wondering if the premium version might have more options for finding other deductions to make up for it?

I've been dealing with massive vet bills too - my cat needed emergency surgery twice this year totaling about $4,800. After reading through all these comments, I decided to try both taxr.ai and Claimyr since everyone seemed to have good experiences. The taxr.ai analysis was really thorough and while they confirmed my vet bills weren't deductible (as expected), they found several business expense deductions I had completely overlooked since I do some freelance work. Saved me about $900 in taxes which definitely helps with the vet bill sting. Then I used Claimyr to get through to an actual IRS agent to double-check some of the more complex deductions taxr.ai had identified. Got connected in maybe 25 minutes and the agent was incredibly helpful - even walked me through proper documentation requirements so I wouldn't have issues if audited. Between the two services, I feel much more confident about my tax situation this year. Sometimes you just need professional help to navigate all the rules properly, especially when you're dealing with significant unexpected expenses like vet bills.