Code of Massachusetts Regulations
106 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF TRANSITIONAL ASSISTANCE
Title 106 CMR 363.000 - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Financial Eligibility Standards
Section 363.220 - Countable Income
Universal Citation: 106 MA Code of Regs 106.363
Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
For SNAP purposes, countable income must be categorized as either earned or unearned.
(A) Earned Income.
(1)
Wages. All wages and salaries paid to an employee are
counted as earned income.
(2)
Self-employment. The total gross income from a
self-employment enterprise, including the total gain from the sale of any
capital goods or equipment related to the business, excluding the cost of doing
business, is counted as earned income. Payments from roomers and boarders are
classified as earned self-employment income. Income from rental property shall
be considered earned self-employment income only if a household member actively
engages in the management of the property an average of at least 20 hours per
week.
(B) Unearned Income. Unearned income is all income that is not earned through employment. This includes, but is not limited to, the following types of unearned income:
(1)
Assistance Payments. Income from public assistance
programs, such as Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC),
Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children (EAEDC) or other assistance
programs based on need;
(2)
Pensions and Social Security. Annuities, pensions,
retirement, veterans' or disability benefits, Workers' or Unemployment
Compensation, Social Security (RSDI) and SSI benefits and strike
benefits;
(3)
Foster
Care Payments. Foster care payments when the foster care child or
adult is included in the foster care household's SNAP household;
(4)
Support and
Alimony. Support and alimony payments made directly to the
household from nonhousehold members.
Support and alimony payments of up to $50 per month received as a TAFDC-Related Benefit by a household with a TAFDC client;
(5)
Grants, Interest Payments,
Dividends. Payments from government-sponsored programs such as the
Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service Programs, dividends,
interest, royalties, and all other direct money payments from any source
whatever which can be construed to be a gain or benefit;
(6)
Rental Income.
Income from rental property shall be counted as unearned income unless a
household member actively engages in the management of the property an average
of at least 20 hours per week;
(7)
Trust Funds. Money withdrawn from trust funds that are
excluded from assets under the provisions of
106
CMR 363.140(F) shall be
considered income in the month received unless otherwise excluded under
106
CMR 363.230. Dividends from excluded trust
funds, which the household has the option of either receiving as income or
reinvesting in the trust, are to be considered income in the month they become
available to the household, whether collected by the household or reinvested in
the trust, unless otherwise excluded under
106
CMR 363.230; and
(8)
Deemed Sponsor Income for
Sponsored Noncitizens. For households containing sponsored
noncitizens, the income of the sponsor and the sponsor's spouse, if living with
the sponsor, shall be deemed as unearned income to the household in accordance
with 106 CMR 362.270:
Deeming of Income and Assets for Sponsored
Noncitizens.
(C) Garnishments, Managed Income and Certain Vendor Payments.
(1)
Garnished Wages. Wages earned by a household member
that are garnished or diverted by an employer, and paid to a third party for a
household's expenses, such as rent, are considered earned income. However, if
the employer pays a household's rent directly to the landlord in addition to
paying the household its regular wages, this rent payment is excluded as a
vendor payment. In addition, if the employer provides housing to an employee,
the value of the housing is not countable as income.
(2)
Managed Income.
All or part of a Public Assistance (PA) grant, which would normally be provided
as money payment to the household, that is diverted to a third party or to a
protective payee for the purpose of managing a household's expenses is counted
as unearned income. However, payments by the Department that would not normally
be provided in a money payment to the household, and that are over and above
normal public assistance grants are excluded as a vendor payment if they are
made directly to a third party for a household expense.
106
CMR 363.220(C)(2) applies
even if the household has the option of receiving a direct cash
payment.
(3)
Certain
Vendor Payments. Monies that are legally obligated and otherwise
payable to the household, but are diverted by the provider of the payment to a
third party for household expenses, are counted as unearned income and not
excluded as a vendor payment. The distinction is based on whether or not the
person or organization making the payment on behalf of a household is using
funds that otherwise are payable to the household. Funds include wages earned
by a household member and owed to the household, a PA grant to which a
household is legally entitled, and support or alimony payments in amounts that
are legally obligated to a household member. Even if an employer, agency, or
former spouse who owes these funds to a household diverts them to a third party
to pay for a household expense, these payments are still counted as income to
the household. However, if an employer, agency, former spouse or other person
makes payments for household expenses to a third party from funds that are not
legally obligated to the household, the payments are considered vendor payments
and excluded from income.
(4)
Certain Recouped Monies. Monies withheld from a public
assistance grant or repaid by the recipient to the public assistance program
are considered countable unearned income if the following conditions apply:
(a) the monies are voluntarily or
involuntarily withheld or returned to repay a prior overpayment that was caused
by the household's intentional failure to comply with the requirements of
another federal or state means-tested program as defined in
106
CMR 360.030: Definitions;
and
(b) the overpayment is not
considered excluded income as specified in
106
CMR 363.230.
(5)
Failure to Comply with
Another Assistance Program's Requirements. The Department will not
increase SNAP benefits when a household's benefits under another federal or
state means-tested program as defined in
106
CMR 360.030: Definitions
have been decreased (i.e., reduced or suspended, but not when
a household's cash benefits are terminated) due to fraud or a failure to comply
with a requirement of the program that imposed the benefit decrease subject to
the following conditions:
(a) The Department
must make a good faith effort to obtain information regarding the failure to
comply from the agency imposing the penalty;
(b) The Department must adjust SNAP benefits
when eligible members are added to the SNAP household regardless of whether or
not the household is prohibited from receiving benefits for the additional
member under another applicable public assistance program; and
(c) The Department must adjust SNAP benefits
as a result of changes in household circumstances not related to the penalty
imposed by another applicable public assistance program.
(6)
Payments That Are Not
Considered Income. The following payments are not income for SNAP
purposes and should be disregarded when determining a household's eligibility
and benefit level:
(a) Child support payments
made to TAFDC recipients that must be assigned to the Department by the
recipient under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act (Child Support
Enforcement) to maintain TAFDC eligibility; and
(b) Monies withheld from a public assistance
grant or repaid by the recipient to any income source or monies received from
any income source if the following conditions apply:
1. the monies are voluntarily or
involuntarily withheld from or returned to the income source to repay a prior
overpayment that was caused by any reason other than the household
intentionally failing to comply with the requirements of another federal or
state needs-based welfare program, such as TAFDC, EAEDC or SSI; and
2. the overpayment is not considered excluded
income as provided in
106
CMR 363.230.
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