Code of Maine Rules
10 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
144 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES - GENERAL
Chapter 301 - SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP) RULES
FS-500's
500 - INCOME AND DEDUCTIONS
Section 144-301-500-FS 555-4 - Excluded Income

Universal Citation: 10 ME Code Rules ยง 144-301-500-FS 555-4

Current through 2024-38, September 18, 2024

GENERAL RULE

All income is counted with the exception of income under the following categories:

1. Loans - All loans, except loans on which repayment is deferred until completion of that member's education. (A statement signed by both parties indicating the money is a loan is acceptable verification.) For treatment of student loans see Section 444-7(2). For repayment of home equity loans see allowable shelter costs, Section 555-5(7)(A)(1).

2. Certain Vendor Payments

A. Money payments by a non-household member which are not legally due the household and are paid directly to a third party for a household's expense. For example, a relative pays the rent or an employer pays the rent and it is not considered part of the individual's compensation by the employer.

B. TANF vendor payments made to a third party which are not normally included in the TANF benefit or which are over and above the normal TANF payment (currently, Maine does not restrict any part of TANF assistance to a vendor payment; therefore, this exclusion does not apply to TANF in Maine).

C. Vendored assistance from state or local programs which provide no cash assistance. This includes General Assistance vendor payments made to a third party. All General Assistance payments must be made in the form of a third party vendor payment, and are excluded under provisions of the Food and Nutrition Act.

D. Court ordered vendor payments in lieu of a direct payment.

3. Income in Kind - Any gain or benefit which is not money such as shelter provided by an employer not considered part of the individual's compensation by the employer or a lessor, produce from a garden, clothing, gift cards, etc.

4. Repayments - Monies withheld or returned from an assistance payment, earnings, or other source to repay a prior overpayment.

EXCEPTION: The gross amount is counted when the overpayment is the result of an intentional violation of program rules in a means-tested program, such as TANF/PaS or SSI. An intentional program violation in TANF/PaS must be determined by a court or an administrative hearing or the signing of a waiver.

5. Child Support Payments - Received by TANF/PaS recipients that are turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services.

NOTE: See Paragraph 21 of this section for treatment of child support payments made by SNAP recipients.

6. Excluded Reimbursements and Allowances - Payments which do not exceed the actual costs for job-related or training-related expenses, medical expenses, or dependent care expenses. This includes allowances from SNAP E&T and WIOA.

NOTE: No ASPIRE or HOPE work related expense payments are counted, even when received prospectively.

7. Third-Party Payments - Monies both received for and used for the care of a third-party beneficiary who is not a household member.

NOTE: When payments are made to both household and non-household members, any portion of the payment intended and used for the care and maintenance of the non-household member is excluded. If the non-household member's portion cannot be identified, the payment is prorated among intended beneficiaries. The greater of the household member's prorated share or the amount actually used for the household member's care and maintenance, is counted.

8. Earned income of an elementary or secondary school student 17 years of age or younger who lives with their natural, adoptive, or stepparent, or who is living under the parental control of a household member other than a parent.

An elementary or secondary school student is someone who attends elementary or secondary school enough time for that person's state or local school district to consider the person a "student". This includes a student who attends high school equivalency or home-school classes recognized, operated, or supervised by the student's state or local school district.

The treatment of this income will not be altered by semester breaks, summer vacations, etc., provided the student will resume enrollment after the break (Section 444-7) .

NOTES: The student's income is excluded until the month following the month in which the student turns 18. If the household receives one payment for work performed by all members and the student's portion is not defined, the income is divided equally among the number of household members working and the portion allotted to the student is excluded.

9. Losses from Farming Enterprise (Section 444-2)

10. Nonrecurring Lump-Sum Payments

Some examples are: Income tax refunds, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Alternative Aid and Emergency Assistance payments. That portion of retroactive lump-sum Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), railroad retirement or insurance settlements intended to cover a period prior to the budget month. See Section 333-2 for if and when these payments would be countable assets.

NOTE: That portion of a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Parents as Scholars (PaS) retroactive payment which covers a period prior to the payment month is treated as an asset, rather than income. The same is true of a nonrecurring Division of Support Enforcement and Recovery (DSER) pass through and gap payment for a prior period.

11. Specified Student Income Exclusions - See Section 444-7(2).

12. Certain cash donations, based on need, from one or more private, nonprofit charitable organizations. The first $300 of such cash donations per federal fiscal year quarter are excluded.

NOTE: FFY Quarters are as follows: October - December, January - March., April - June, and July - September.

13. Income excluded by Federal statute including but not limited to:

A. Energy Assistance - Payments or allowances made under any federal energy assistance law except those provided under Title IV(A) of the Social Security Act1. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) utility payments and reimbursements are considered federal energy assistance.

NOTE: If a household incurs utility expenses in excess of the HUD utility payments or reimbursement, they are eligible for the appropriate utility standard (see Section 555-5) .

NOTE: An expense paid on behalf of the household under state law to provide energy assistance is considered an out of pocket expense incurred and paid by the household.

B. Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act (WIOA) payments

EXCEPTION: Payments from WIOA's on-the-job training program (OJT) are counted unless

(1) they are received by dependents less than 19 years old or,

(2) they are received by participants (regardless of age) in the Summer Youth Employment and Training Program or comparable summer youth employment and training programs under Americorps. Americorps does not provide OJT.

C. Americorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) - These payments are excluded only if the recipient was receiving SNAP or public assistance at the time they enrolled in VISTA. Temporary interruptions in SNAP participation do not change the exclusion once an initial determination of exemption has been made. Applicants not receiving public assistance or SNAP when they joined VISTA will have VISTA payments counted as earned income.

1 This reference applies to the version of the Social Security Act that was in place at the time the assistance was provided. The text of the act can be found at https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/ssact/title04/0400.htm.

Individuals may request copies by writing to:

Senior Program Manager - SNAP

Maine DHHS, Office for Family Independence

11 State House Station

109 Capitol St.

Augusta, ME 04333-0011

EXCEPTION: VISTA volunteers who were receiving FS prior to January 1, l979, continue to have VISTA income excluded.

D. Americorps (State or National) stipends

E. National Older Americans Volunteer Programs including but not limited to-
(1) Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP)

(2) Foster Grandparent Program

(3) Older American Community Service Programs

(4) Senior Health Aides and Senior Companions

(5) Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE)

(6) Active Corps of Executives (ACE)

F. Payments Under the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970.

G. Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program

H. Special Native American Payments - Excluded by law, such as payments under the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act.

I. Wages under the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) of the Older Americans Act.

J. Payments made from the Agent Orange Settlement Fund or any other fund established pursuant to the settlement in the Agent Orange product liability litigation.

K. Federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) whether received as advanced payment in weekly wages or received in one lump sum after filing annual income tax return.

L. Interest and matching investments in Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts, established under Sec. 529A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

14. Amounts necessary for the fulfillment of a plan to achieve self-support (PASS) excluded by the Social Security Administration in figuring SSI payments.

15. State or federal one-time assistance for weatherization or emergency repair or replacement of an unsafe inoperative or other heating or cooling device,

16. Matching awards of Savings Offer Success (SOS) made by Rural Opportunities, Inc. (ROI) to households that participate in their program,.

17. Funds in the Department of Housing and Urban Developments (HUD) Family Self-Sufficiency Program (FSS) escrow accounts,

18. Nutritional Assistance Program (NAP) Benefits from Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas.

19. Payments to a former spouse made under the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act. These are part of a property settlement involving military retirement.

20. Legally obligated child support payments

Household income used to make legally obligated child support payments from a household member to or for an individual who is not a member of the household is excluded.

NOTE: The exclusion is allowed when a child support payment is made to an individual or an agency outside the household even if the child for whom the support is paid is a household member. However, child support paid by a household member which is received by a member of that household will not be allowed as a child support exclusion or counted as child support income (e.g., child support arrearage that is paid to the state by a household member and is forwarded by the state to a child entitled to the support payment who resides in that household is counted as income of the payer of the child support, not the child).

A. Household income used to make the following legally obligated child support payments are excluded:
(1) payments made for current obligation.

(2) payments made for unmet past obligation. or

(3) in-kind payments if the in-kind nature of the payment is ordered by the court or administrative child support hearing (ex. The court ordered the individual to pay for a child's health insurance)

B. Households must verify child support payments that they are legally obligated before the income used to make them is excluded. Copies of legal procedures, canceled checks, signed statements from payee, and information from the Division of Support Enforcement and Recovery (DSER) are sufficient.

C. Household income used to make:
(1). child support payments which are not legally obligated (e.g. Voluntary payments),

(2) child support payments which divert from the court order (e.g. Purchasing clothing instead of paying the $50/wk. ordered by the court),

(3) spousal or any other non-child support payments, or

(4) child support collected through tax intercept is counted.

21. Monies received as accrued interest on a recipient's Family Development Account or Separate Identifiable Account;

22. Monies received as a match on deposits a recipient makes in their Family Development Account or Separate Identifiable Account set up as authorized by state law 20-A M.R.S. §10982 up to the $10,000 cap; or

23. Any additional money from military personnel during the time of deployment to a combat zone that is made available to the SNAP household.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Maine may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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