I recently perused the U.S. government’s official web portal where the notifications section gives the general public easy access to a variety of updates. As I was reading over the different updates, I stumbled upon an announcement that stated “every household that has a pet will be taxed for each pet they own.” The more I read, the more further I went into orbit. I try to keep up with the pending new laws, but this one has not received the attention that it should have!
The law clearly states that an average $250 tax will apply to all dogs and cats throughout the nation. While farm animals are still undetermined, taxes will definitely be imposed on any animal that can be considered a domestic pet. Evidently the tax for smaller pets such as hamsters, rats, snakes, ferrets, guinea pigs, etc. will be assessed at a reduced rate, depending on size.
Why a new pet tax? It seems the government, unable to balance the budget yet again, is creatively looking for a solution and the income from taxing pet owners will reduce the deficit by $2.5 million per year. Officials say the public should easily get behind the program since the bulk of the revenue created by the new pet tax is slated to be applied to the Social Security program which is quickly running out of money due to more baby boomers retiring early. Perhaps baby boomers feel if they wait until full retirement age there will be no money left in the program. Supporters of the new tax (likely not pet-owners themselves) say the additional revenue generated should help assure the American public that Social Security will be able to stick around for many more years to come.
Taxation is nothing new. The government imposed taxes on liquor and cigarettes in the hopes of recouping the deficit, but it didn’t work. It seems that Americans decided enough is enough and more than expected decided to quit drinking and smoking rather than pay the exorbitant increase to purchase booze and smokes. Experts on the subject stated they are certain that American pet owners will be willing to pay the tax, rather that cease to own pets.
Are you a pet owner?
Does this upset you?!
Want to know what you can do about it?
Several protests are taking place throughout the United States today, April 1st, 2011.
(Did you remember it’s April Fool’s Day?)
We love April Fool’s Day and hope you enjoyed our light-hearted spoof. Seriously, we’re hoping a nationwide pet tax remains an absurd idea!
21 Comments
You definitely got me on that one. First of all I forgot it is April Fool’s day and secondly, you made it so believable! Good one.
Oh my gosh, I was getting more and more mad as I read this – thank goodness it’s an April Fool’s joke after all. I’m surprised our goverment hasn’t done this yet though – they tax everything else in sight. Happy April Fool’s.
Absolutely perfect. I almost was ready to post my angry reaction to this.
You made my day 🙂
Nearly had a stroke!..Hush, Hon, you don’t want to give ‘These Guys’ any ideas – and there’s a rumor going around saying some of them can read 🙂
Hil-AR-i-ous!!
Thanks for the laugh. 🙂
I fell for it hook, line and sinker! As the owner of 5 cats, 2 dogs, a ferret, rabbit, and bird I was sweating just thinking about it!!! lol
Got me too…unfortunately some Idiot in Congress will read it also and thing its a good Idea and put a bill in to the works. thanks a lot for the laugh though.
This was brilliant! How did you come up with such a believable story? You’re a very talented writer! I love the Happy April Fools Day :0) Glad it wasn’t true!
You almost had me! lol Honestly, I think we should be able to take our pets as tax DEDUCTIONS. I mean, we house them, feed them and provide them with medical care (and social security) so why can’t we call them “dependents”: 🙂
OK…..OK……wrote an entire valid comment then before submitting read a couple of other comments and saw that it was yes, April 1st. Who knows, you may have given the gov’t a new idea. Let’s hope not. All the best.
Hee hee hee.
It is sooo believable b/c they tax everything! Great job. Thanks for the laugh.
What a great prank! I originally read this because I thought it was outrageous! This is a great, and funny, way to get people’s attention!
If this came in there would be a lot of strays wandering the streets and a lot of bangs as pets leave this life and go to the next.
I was this close to believe this joke! I thought it was outrageous and I got mad, thank God it’s just a joke!
Wow, so not funny! Though it wouldn’t surprise me if the government did place a tax on all pets. Imagine people hiding their dog under the bed to avoid paying the tax ;]
I think this one is really outrageous! They should not apply any pet tax at all. What if there are good kind-hearted people who want to adopt pets such as dogs and cats, yet they will now have doubt if they will keep a pet or not due to pet taxes. Come on! This pet tax would even lead to a great number of HOMELESS pets. They should not even think about this idea. Instead of having a pet tax they should have applied this additional taxes to liquors and cigarette. In that way there would be a lot of people who would be healthy. 🙂
I don’t like the idea of having a pet tax. Imagine what would pet owners do with their dogs once this has been implemented. No one would even take care of dogs with this kind of law at place. By this time, I think a lot of dogs would become homeless. 🙁
I actually won’t like it if ever there will be a pet tax. What would happen to pets at home if the tax collectors come to check? Are they going to hide themselves somewhere?
It would be much nicer if there is no pet tax so that a lot of people would still be able to take care of homeless animals. http://www.letterboxesaustralia.com.au
I hope this pet tax would be just another nightmare wherein once you wake up everything vanishes. 🙂
April Fools! Darn! Almost believed this one. 😀