A weary husky of the bright pink-eared dog is resting on the hotel’s marble floor, dozing off before his next meet and greet. All around him, the lobby reverberates with the clicking sounds of Louboutins and businessmen chatting over expensive cocktails. The stone resting spot isn’t quite as comfy as the luxurious pet bed he’s used to, but a plush Louis Vuitton doggie jacket props him up as he recovers from the pooch-ridden routine of the influential elite.
With over 7.5 million followers on TikTok, Swaggy Wolfdog is quite the celebrity — he (or at least his team) is in the habit of approaching strangers, who might ask for a selfie. But as I approached and handled the elegant puppy, something gripped me. All I wanted to know was how an influential dog – or its owner – filed taxes. So I asked.
It’s a reasonable question. For a human influencer, creating content and building an audience is only half the battle. To make a sustainable living, creators need to know how to run their own business, factoring in questions about whether to get an EIN, when to register an LLC, how to budget with variable monthly income and how to file taxes. How much more complicated does the paperwork become as the breadwinner becomes more of a winner?
“The dog has his own LLC, and whatever the dog does, we write it off. Of dog food sometimes when we’re out of town, he has a dog hotel,” said Aaron Phillips, a record producer who works with Swaggy Wolfdog’s owner, a musician named Swagrman. His own, and now he has clothes.” “All his dog food, all his friends’ dog food…and human food, because he loves chicken.”
Swaggy’s situation is not like most influencer dogs. He fends off paparazzi on Hollywood Boulevard, throws pool parties with a crowd of bikini-clad models, gets chin scrapes from the late Juice Wrld and hangs backstage at a music festival with superstar singer Camila Cabello. But filing taxes can be daunting even for pets with thousands, not millions, of followers like Swaggy.
To help manage budding pet influencers, Harvard Law School graduate Lonnie Edwards founded The Dog Agency in 2015.
“In the past, people didn’t think of it as a business,” Edwards told TechCrunch. But when her French bulldog Chloe became an early pet influencer, she saw an opportunity.
“We got invited to these events in New York,” Edwards said, “and when people found out I was a lawyer, they said, Oh my God, I got this contract, can you help me?” “And so I would informally review contracts with people, help and guide them.”
Now, The Dog Agency is one of the top talent companies for pet influencers. But Edwards takes a more conservative approach to dog taxes than Team Swaggy.
Edwards points out that rules vary between US states and that it’s best to consult a tax advisor when running a small business. However, she does help clients know which of their pet’s expenses can be considered a business expense.
“If you have a car and you use it for work five days a week, you can write off that percentage of the time you use it for work. It’s like dog food,” Edwards explained. “If a pet creates content and influences half the time, then (write off) 50 %.”
The same goes for the home office. A dog might not type away at a desk, but a dog owner probably needs a dedicated space for shooting content, editing videos, and storing pet clothes and supplies. According to the IRS, a small business owner can deduct up to $1,500 for a portion of their home that is used exclusively and regularly as an office. Someone who moves into an office space elsewhere won’t qualify, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find an Instagram-famous pup at WeWork.
If you’re buying an item that’s meant for a pet, it’s more direct, Edwards said. If you’re going to dress your Golden Retriever in an “Airbud” outfit for a TikTok-themed Halloween costume, this doggie-sized basketball jersey is a crossover.
Once your pet climbs the dog and pony show ranks, you might be thinking about how to register their business. According to Colleen Wilson, owner of talent agency Pets on Q, most pet influencers don’t need an LLC until they make over $100,000 annually.
“In our list of 2,000-plus animals, you’ll likely have fewer than 10 animals that have an LLC,” Wilson told TechCrunch.
Sometimes creators create LLCs for legal protection, but these concerns are not animal related. “It ended up being a little bit more work to set up the LLC,” Wilson said, “because the risk of getting sued like a dog is like… what are you going to do there?”
When it comes to taxes, Wilson points out that there’s a much simpler way to figure out what counts as a write-off. If you foster an animal through a registered nonprofit, all unreimbursed costs of pet care are tax deductible.
In addition to the do’s and don’ts of tax deductions, the work of a pet influencer gets a little more complicated.
“For tax purposes, we first have to figure out what their valuation is,” Wilson said.
It may seem silly to quantify the business potential of a dog, but Q Pets has its own approach to science. Wilson explained that pets tend to get a lower return on investment in brand campaigns than a human influencer, so their rates for sponsored posts will be about a third lower.
Animal influencers are cheaper because pets generally don’t make as strong a case for buying something as a human can. Sure, Boobie Billie could model for Esquire and snag a partnership with Nordstrom, but she can’t tell you if her dog Uggs is too big, or if her Old Navy dress is surprisingly preferable to her Gucci jacket.
If animal influencers aren’t successful in sales, they can make up for it with sheer affection. “It’s very unlikely that people will hate them, like the Kardashians or a celebrity they could mess up in the future,” Wilson said.
Your pet may never find themselves in a kennel after American women are punished for not working hard enough, but there are downsides. Pets generally don’t have a very long lifespan – which is a real reason for a responsible business. Losing a beloved animal can be devastating, but that grief becomes even more complicated when that animal also brings home bacon (but not literally, because bacon can cause vomiting in dogs and cats).
Edwards experienced this firsthand when her dog Chloe the Mini Frenchie died from an unexpected medical error in 2017. Since then, she’s reused Chloe’s Instagram to post about her new French bulldog, Emma.
Last year, beloved TikTok star Noodle the Pug passed away at the age of 14. The elderly pup was frail in his old age, so he broke out in 2021 when his owner, comedian Jonathan Graziano, created a game called “Bones or No Bones.” If Noodle was able to stand on his own (he had bones), it would be a good day — but If he doesn’t have the strength (no bones), maybe it’s a universal sign to wear comfy pants and stay indoors.
Edwards represented Noodle, but did not believe Noodle’s death would present a financial hurdle for Graziano. Graziano’s children’s book about Noodle is already a New York Times bestseller, and he has another Noodle book coming soon.
“It’s as much Jonathan as Noodle,” Edwards said. “So there’s longevity there, and Jonathan is getting ready to adopt and bring new rescues to seniors, so he’s staying on-brand with the theme of the account.”
The impact on pets is an industry that eats dogs, but Wilson tries to keep perspective.
“The amount of money these pets and their owners make is a bit ridiculous,” she said. “Where I work, it’s an interesting, interesting world.”