A new way for the government to skim from families has popped up in the Colorado House of Representatives, where Rep. Regina English, a Democrat, has introduced a pet tax for all pets — vertebrate and invertebrates.
Colorado House Bill 24-1163 would impose a tax of up to $8.50 on every pet, an annual fee.
But wait, there’s more: The government, in addition to requiring all pets to be registered and taxed by the Department of Agriculture, would be required to tell the government who the “designated caregiver” is for the pet. Failure to disclose the designee would result in a $25 fine. If the dog or cat pet is not spayed or neutered, the tax would be $16 annually per pet.
The bill requires the commissioner of the Department of Agriculture (commissioner) to develop, implement, and maintain an online pet animal registration system (system). The state registration and tax system would not deduct any locally levied dog licenses.
A fish aquarium with 10 fish would be charged $85 per year, and failure to designate a caregiver for the pet fish would be $250 per year.
According to World Population Review, 64.7% of Coloradans are pet owners who would be subject to this tax. Livestock such as cows, horses, sheep, and other grazing animals are not included. The bill does not specify is service animals are considered pets.
Denver and other cities in Colorado have ordinances limiting the number of dogs and cats that people may own. In Denver, a person may own up to five; if they have three dogs, they can only have two cats. All must be licensed, which is $15 a year for each dog. The city has a restriction of two rabbits per household and a person can own no more than 25 pigeons or doves.
Denver is said to have about 158,000 dogs in the metro area, which would give the state over $1.3 million in registration fees alone per year, not counting the $25 fee for not disclosing an alternate caregiver. Colorado Springs similarly limits households to four dogs and four cats.
An active dog mushing community in Colorado would be impacted by the new tax, but dog breeders are apparently exempted. Sales of pets are covered under Denver and Colorado sales taxes. Denver County has an 8.81% sales tax, which includes the state sales tax of 2.9%.
The new state pet registration tax would ostensibly be used to help connect owners with their pets after an emergency, should they be separated, according to the bill sponsor.
Colorado’s House of Representatives has been controlled by Democrats since 2012. In 2022, Democrats won a 46-19 majority. Once viewed as a swing state politically, Colorado has been trending Democrat, as younger people moved there from California and elsewhere. More than 200,000 people moved from California to Colorado from 2009 to 2019. According to The Visualist website, in 2020-2021, nearly 27,000 Californians moved to Colorado.
The Tax Poem
Tax his land, Tax his bed, Tax the table at which he’s fed.
Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes are the rule.
Tax his work, Tax his pay, He works for peanuts anyway!
Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat. Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax his work, Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he tries to think.
Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries tax his tears.
Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways to tax his ass.
Tax all he has, Then let him know, That you won’t be done till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers, Then tax him some more, Tax him till he’s good and sore.
Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in which he’s laid.
Put these words Upon his tomb, ‘Taxes drove me to my doom…’
When he’s gone, Do not relax, Its time to apply the inheritance tax.
More rights trampled by the politicians.
Another reason not to live in Colorado. insanity. unconstitutional, of course.
Leftists from EVERY state are going to want to cash in on this new find.
The article regarding pet tax is a sign of desperation from democrats for THEIR out of control spending and for me they are overstepping boundaries once again,for most people their pets are people too and definite asset that has no price in any form period.
Insane and stupid. Give if 50-50 it passes, and 75-25 our idiot legislature considers it.
There is nothing most democrats and a large amount of Republicans won’t tax.
WOOF!…..UNBELIEVABLE!
Leftists, always spending other people’s money so they can look good.
Oh, Regina, Regina! Monty Python has nothing on you: your “English” humor is damn near unbearable, and there is still over a month and a half to go before the first of April!
How will they enforce this? Guess they’ll need pet police. Too bad they don’t make illegal migrants have a caregiver.
Reads like a Babylon B story but like many of those stories they come out to be true. They need to chip them all. Especially they need to chip all those fish
A Democrat never met someone’s else’s dollar they didn’t like. They will tax everything they can get their hands on.
Californians, the relentless plague that keeps spreading californication around the country.
The states bordering the statist hellhole and cesspool need to build walls around it to keep the inmates of that insane asylum from escaping and destroying the rest of the country.
I’d consider voting for Haley (excuse me while I gag) if she would build a wall around California.
This is pure crazy talk. Tax for owning a pet? Tax for someone having companionship and high vet bills, costly food, toys, leash, collar, harness, waste clean up …
It has nothing to do with pets. This is just another scam to line their pockets and justify themselves by calling it a tax – for the good of the people of course, those inferior to their kind, who need them to decide how to spend every cent.
Keep in mind that the globalist blame pets for carbon emissions. Can’t have that!they must be given up in sacrifice to the all powerful State!!
Coming soon, at an assembly near you.
Coloradans could be forgiven for retaliating with nullification through noncompliance.
.
Can you imagine what Colorado counterrevolutionaries might be plotting to defy, defeat, and disrupt their pet tax?
.
Surely they’re not thinking about nonstop doxing, swatting (Hey 5-0, untaxed Uakari next door!), phony rewards for dropping a dime on bootleg Babirusa, AI-generated emergency untaxed-pet complaints called in 24/7 to the Peoples Commissioner of Agriculture,
.
…24/7 personal ridicule in the form of big, lighted billboards with a pic like this at ‘https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c2/76/ef/c276eff59e4a96485d21164acbbc33d0.jpg… captioned with something delightfully stupid… “all in favor of Rep. Regina English’s pet tax raise your hand” Magnetic signs, too?
.
What a difference a comma can make, no? They’re probably thinking where “Don’t speak, English!” will have the best visual impact. Buttons, flags, bumper stickers…
.
Only a matter of time until some wag rewrites David Allan Coe’s masterpiece, goes viral with “Take Your Tax and Shove It”.
.
Or worse yet, puts it together with a semi-appropriate video…
.
Drug dealers lining up to pay their pit bull tax… now that’s compliance, no?
.
Ridicule Regina harshly and often enough, who knows the poor thing might just up and decamp to Cali where MIA’s* are truly appreciated.
.
*Morons In Authority
Well children, this is going to go over like a lead balloon 🎈 😂
Taxing people’s pets?
Is a horse a pet if you’re using it for transportation.??
Is a dog team pets ??
Tell me how Democrats are supposed to be the saviors of our nation? Each and every time something like this rears it’s ugly head, a wretched Democrat is behind it. They’re the first ones that crow on about freedoms and are the first to always, always want more money. I really, 100% in my blood HATE Democrats.
I remember that Boulder fined a guy once for dying his poodle pink on valentine’s day. That was before they woke.
That’s okay. The State claims to own everything, even our pets, so let it pay the taxes. Senate Document 43, SENATE RESOLUTION #62 page 9, April 17,1933 says the State owns everything. There is no such thing as private property.
That is in conflict with the US Constitution. That document supports Communist doctrine though.
Liberalism is a mental disorder.
Fire Rep. Regina English
My animal identifies as a person thank you very much! And I’m homeschooling.
The sad thing is that the people will probably just sit there and have it happen to them.
Comments are closed.