Big changes to come
There are some big changes happening in the dog breeding world !!!
Pre-2018 the rules regarding dog breeding were very vague and rarely enforced with the welfare of breeding dogs at an all time low.
In 2018 dog breeding and the rules surrounding it changed drastically with the amount of litters a breeder is allowed without requiring a license reduced from 4 to 2 in a rolling 12 month period, but crucially if you have less that that and advertise and sell the pups a license is also required. Basically meaning if you breed more than 1 litter ever, then a license is required.
However, even after 2018 enforcement was still very poor meaning unlicensed and unregulated breeders could continue operating. The only way of them getting caught is if someone reported them……………… But things have changed drastically over the past few months and there is one man who is coming to shake up the dog breeding world !!!
Mr Taxman !!!
During the time from 2018, until now 2024 we seen a real boom in terms of demand and price dogs being sold, especially during Covid. This meant more, unlicensed and regulated breeders jumped on the band wagon with the objective of making big bucks..... this increased level of activity just added to the poor welfare of breeding dogs, exactly the problem the new licensing laws were intended to fix in 2018.
Breeding regulations and requirements.
However, over the past 18 months HMRC having been investigating dog breeding with the view of clawing back millions of pounds in unpaid tax going back to pre-covid. I recently had a breeder friend of mine contact me asking for advice on tax returns, this guy has operated for years, only ever one or two litters in a year, without a licence and without being registered with the HMRC, someone must have informed the HMRC and they have carried out their own investigation in the background without him knowing and a HMRC tax compliance letter has landed on his doorstep with an estimated outstanding tax bill for £20,087.77 (to be exact) 90 days to pay. I do actually feel sorry for this guy as his dogs are great and he is a friend, but he won’t be the only one as this is part of the big HMRC investigation.
A letter that will certainly ruin the day for anyone !!
However, It has been frustrating as a Licensed breeder doing things right, spending thousands on facilities maintaining high standards of welfare & complying licence requirements, producing tax returns every year, paying tax due every January and seeing many unlicensed, unregulated breeders charging ridiculous sums for pups, year on year. Hiding behind the label 'hobby breeder' not declaring income from breeding...... try telling the taxman the term 'hobby breeder' income is income and the taxman wants his bit.
It is sad it has took something like this to clean up the industry but the ongoing HMRC operation targeting dog breeders, apprently 50,000 individual investigations, is going to be a game changer in dog breeding welfare as it will sift out the dark side of dog breeding, it was only ever a matter of time before the HMRC came to collected the millions undeclared income.
After many years of doing things correctly, having a breeding licence, inspected & approved by both vets & local authority and year on year submitting Tax returns, paying tax due I can honestly say its all been worth it in the end.