Private ruling: Work-related deductions
Date of advice: 6 August 2025
Published: 13 October 2025
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 20XX
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 20XX

Ruling: Q1: Can you claim the costs of maintaining your therapy animals including vet feeds, food, maintenance and insurance under section 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997)? | A1: Yes, the expenses incurred in maintaining your animals used in your therapy business are deductible under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997, but only to the extent that they are being used to earn your assessable income. The general requirement when apportioning expenditure is to assign a percentage to represent the deductible part of the expenditure. You will need to apportion the maintenance expenses between the business function provided by the animal and the private function provided by the animal.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are a qualified social worker. You carry on an activity that supports children, adolescents, and families experiencing a wide range of emotional, behavioural, and interpersonal and social challenges. Your clients include individuals experiencing a variety of emotional, psychological, and interpersonal challenges. You also work with people who live with diverse abilities and neurodevelopmental or mental health conditions. In your activity, your approach includes the use of animal-assisted therapy. In your practice, you engage canine therapy with the assistance of your dog and equine therapy with the assistance of your horse. Currently, the animals are engaged in 2 sessions per day each. They both work 2 days a week. You advertise the services you offer including equine and canine assisted therapy on your website. You and your dog have completed a course with a recognised provider. You developed skills in integrating animals into therapeutic work in a safe, ethical, and evidence-informed way. You and your dog completed all required assessments to become an accredited therapy dog team. Your dog attained Level 1 certification as a therapy dog, meaning they are now formally recognised as suitable for participation in animal-assisted therapeutic interventions. To maintain the certification as a Therapy Dog Team, you and your dog are required to undergo reassessment at least every 12 months. As a team you have also participated in additional training sessions to ensure your skills are maintained. You have completed equine training with a recognised provider. You have personally trained your horse to be a safe and responsive partner in equine-assisted therapy. You have completed formal horsemanship training through a recognised online program. You and the horse have successfully passed Level 1 and Level 2 assessments. You have participated in various horsemanship workshops, structured riding lessons, and practical training courses. These skills have been directly applied to the horse's development as a therapy horse. You and the horse have volunteered for two years with a local disabled organisation. This allowed the horse to consistently demonstrate his suitability for therapeutic work in a safe, supported environment. Through this role, he was regularly exposed to diverse participants and situations, further reinforcing his reliability and calm temperament. You have not completed an equine-assistance therapy training course. As you have not found an equine-assistance therapy training course. You have undergone additional training with a focus on play therapy. Currently, you are furthering your skills through training in nature-based therapy. You have provided several examples for your dog and horse showing how the animals are involved in your activity.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 8-1