Overview
- Amanda Reynolds filed the case in the Eastern District of New York seeking dependent status for her eight-year-old golden retriever, Finnegan Mary Reynolds.
- Her filing argues the dog has no income, lives exclusively with her, relies on her for food, shelter, medical care and transportation, and costs more than $5,000 per year.
- Current IRS rules classify pets as property and, outside limited circumstances for service animals, offer no pathway in statute or case law to claim animals as dependents.
- Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks granted a stay of discovery as the government prepares its anticipated bid to dismiss the suit.
- Reynolds cites potential access to credits such as the Child Tax Credit, the Credit for Other Dependents, and the Earned Income Tax Credit, and she frames the case with equal protection and takings arguments that observers say are unlikely to prevail.