Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
The following kinds of income will be excluded when determining
a household's eligibility and benefit level.
(A)
In-kind Income and Cash
Contributions. Any gain or benefit not in the form of money and
provided directly to the household is excluded from income. For example, meals,
clothing, public housing, or produce from a garden would be excluded from
income.
Any cash contributions from a non-legally responsible person
(i.e., someone without a court order or other binding
agreement) that are restricted for a specific purpose and provide for a portion
of any rent or mortgage, fuel, utilities and/or food or other needs are
excluded from income.
(B)
Vendor Payments. A vendor payment is a money payment
that is paid to a third party for a household expense.
A vendor payment is excluded from income whenever a person or
organization outside the household uses its own funds to make a direct payment
to a household's creditors or to a person or organization providing a service
to the household. The following are examples of excluded vendor
payments:
(1) If a relative or friend
who is not a household member pays the household's rent from his or her own
funds directly to a landlord;
(2)
Rent or mortgage payments made to landlords or mortgagees by the Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD), or by state or local housing authorities
on behalf of a household, including utility allowances paid under such
programs;
(3) Payments made under
the Emergency Assistance (EA) program;
(4) Payments for household expenses made to a
third party and not legally owed to the household. The following are examples
of such excluded vendor payments:
(a) If an
employer pays an employee's rent directly to the landlord in addition to paying
the employee his or her regular wages, the rent payment shall be considered an
excluded vendor payment.
If the employer provides housing to an employee, the value of
the housing shall also be an excluded vendor payment:
(b) Payments specified by a court order or
other legally binding agreement to go directly to the third party rather than
to the household shall be considered excluded vendor payments; and
(c) Support payments not required by a court
order or other legally binding agreement (including payments in excess of an
amount specified in a court order or legally binding agreement) that are paid
to a third party rather than the household shall be considered excluded vendor
payments.
(5) Payments
made by a government agency to a child care provider for day care to a
household member.
(6) Monies or
payments that are not legally owed to the household under a court order or
other legally binding agreement can qualify as excluded vendor payments if they
are paid to the third party directly.
(C)
Infrequent Irregular
Incomes. Any income in the certification period that is received
too infrequently or irregularly to be reasonably anticipated, and is less than
$30 per recipient in a quarter.
(D)
Educational Loans, Grants, and Scholarships. Any
financial assistance paid to a student such as a financial aid package, grant,
loan or scholarship for the purposes of obtaining a degree or certificate from
an institution of higher education. Permissible purposes may include, without
limitation, room and board, tuition and fees, and other ancillary costs
associated with the costs of obtaining a degree or certificate at an
institution of higher education.
(E)
Other Loans. All
loans, including loans from private individuals as well as commercial
institutions, are excluded from income. This includes money received from a
loan secured by the equity in the home of an individual who is 60 years of age
or older, commonly known as a "reverse mortgage".
(F)
Reimbursements.
(1)
Definition of Excluded
Reimbursements. Reimbursements, for past or future expenses, that
are specifically designated and used for a specific purpose other than meeting
normal living expenses (e.g., rent, personal clothing, or food
eaten at home) are excluded so long as they do not exceed actual expenses or
represent a gain or benefit to the household.
(2)
Examples of Excluded
Reimbursements.
(a)
Reimbursements or flat allowances, including reimbursements made to the
household under
106
CMR 362.310(D), for expenses
while on the job or for job-related training are excluded. Such expenses may
include, but are not limited to, travel, per diem, uniforms, and transportation
to and from the job or training site that are provided over and above basic
wages for these expenses. Reimbursements for the travel expenses of migrant
workers are also excluded.
(b)
Reimbursements to volunteers for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the course
of their work.
(c) Reimbursements
made to the household for expenses necessary for participation in a SNAP
E&T component.
(d) Medical or
dependent care reimbursements.
(e)
Reimbursements received by assistance units to pay for services provided by
Title XX of the Social Security Act are excluded, but Title XX reimbursements
for normal living expenses are not excluded under
106
CMR
363.230(F)(2)(d).
(f) Any annual allowance earmarked by the
Department for children's clothes is excluded, provided the Department does not
reduce the monthly assistance grant for the month the school clothing allowance
is issued.
(3)
Reimbursements for Multiple Expenses. When a
reimbursement, including a flat allowance, covers multiple expenses, expenses
do not need to be separately identified as long as normal living expenses are
not covered by the reimbursement.
(4)
Reimbursements Exceeding
Expenses. The amount by which a reimbursement exceeds the actual
incurred expense shall be counted as income. However, reimbursements shall not
be considered to exceed actual expenses, unless the provider or the household
indicates the amount is excessive.
(G)
Monies Received for Third
Parties. Monies received and used for the care and maintenance of
a third party beneficiary who is not a household member are excluded from
income. If the intended beneficiaries of a single payment include both
household and nonhousehold members, any identifiable portion of the payment
intended and used for the care and maintenance of the nonhousehold member shall
be excluded. If the nonhousehold member's portion cannot be readily identified,
the payment shall be evenly prorated among intended beneficiaries and the
exclusion applied to the nonhousehold member's pro rata share
or the amount actually used for the nonhousehold member's care and maintenance,
whichever is less.
(H)
Earnings of Elementary or Secondary School Students.
Earned income of a student younger than 18 years old who attends elementary or
secondary school or classes to obtain a High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) at
least half-time and lives with a natural, adoptive or step-parent, is under the
parental control of an adult household member other than a parent, or is
certified in a separate SNAP household but lives with a natural, adoptive or
step-parent is excluded. This exclusion continues during temporary
interruptions in school attendance due to semester or vacation breaks, if the
student's enrollment will resume following the break. If the student's earnings
or the amount of work performed cannot be differentiated from that of the other
household members, the total earnings shall be prorated equally among the
working members and the student's pro rata share excluded.
(I)
Nonrecurring Lump Sum
Payments. Money received in the form of nonrecurring lump sum
payments is noncountable income. For example, tax refunds, rebates or credits,
retroactive lump sum Social Security or SSI benefits, PA payments, Railroad
Retirement benefits, retroactive lump sum insurance settlements, refunds of
security deposits on rental property and utilities are noncountable income.
These payments shall be counted as an asset in the month received unless
noncountable in accordance with
106
CMR 363.140.
(J)
The Cost of Producing
Self-employment Income. The cost of producing self-employment
income is excluded from income in accordance with
106
CMR 365.900 through
365.970.
(K)
Income Excluded by
Law. Certain income is excluded for SNAP purposes by specific
provisions in federal law. The following listing of excludable income includes,
but is not limited to:
(1) Highway Relocation
assistance payments, Urban Renewal Assistance payments, disaster relief
payments used for relocation, and payments from private agencies used for
relocation;
(2) The tax-exempt
portions of payments made under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement
Act;
(3) Funds distributed to or
held in trust for members of any Indian tribe pursuant to a judgment of the
Indian Claims Settlements or the Secretary of the Interior;
(4) Payments to Native Americans under Public
Laws 92-254, 93-134, 94-114, 94-540, 96-420, 97- 458, 98-64 and 102-71,
including interest income from these payments;
(5) Payments or reimbursements given to,
volunteers serving as foster grandparents, senior health aides, senior
companions, or serving in the Service Corps of Retired Executives, in VISTA, or
in any other program established under the Domestic Service Act of
1973;
(6) Youthbuild or Americorps
allowances, earnings or payments to individuals participating in those
programs;
(7) Payments of state or
federal earned income credits (EIC) whether received as advance payments of
earned income credits or as part or all of an income tax refund;
(8) Energy assistance payments or allowances
as described below:
(a) Any payments or
allowances made for the purpose of providing energy assistance under any
federal law (other than Part A of Title IV of the Social Security Act
(42 USC
601, et seq.)), or
(b) A one-time payment or allowance made
under a federal or state law for the costs of weatherization or emergency
repair or replacement of an unsafe or inoperative furnace or other heating or
cooling device;
(9)
Funds received by individuals under the Older American Community Service
Employment Program pursuant to the Older Americans Act Amendments of 1987,
Public Law 100-175;
(10) Cash
donations based on need that are received from one or more private nonprofit
charitable organizations, not in excess of $300 aggregate per quarter, pursuant
to the Charitable Assistance and Food Bank Act of 1987, Public Law
100-232;
(11) Payments for eligible
individuals of Japanese ancestry or their survivors under the Civil Liberties
Act of 1988, and payments up to $12,000 per person for eligible Aleuts (who
were former residents of the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands) or their survivors
under the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Act, Public Law
100-383;
(12) Agent Orange
Settlement Fund payments made to Vietnam veterans or their survivors, in
accordance with Public Law
101-201, effective January 1, 1989;
(13) Payments made to individuals because of
their status as victims of Nazi persecution in accordance with
Public Law
103-286;
(14) Payments (from $200 through $1200 per
month) to the child of a Vietnam veteran disabled in any way by spina
bifida;
(15) Payments made under
P.L.
101-426,
Section
6(h)(2), the Radiation Exposure Compensation
Act;
(16) The value of assistance
received under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the National School Lunch
Act;
(17) Any amount of basic pay
that is reduced under the Veterans Benefits Improvement and Health Care
Authorization Act shall revert to the Treasury and not be considered to be
received by or in control of such individual;
(18) Coupons under a WIC Demonstration
Project that can be exchanged for food at farmers' markets;
(19) No service provided to a public housing
resident under the Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act;
(20) Crime victim compensation payments under
the Crime Act of 1984;
(21) The
value of any child care provided under the Child Care and Development Block
Grant Act;
(22) The amount of home
energy assistance payments or allowances under the Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Act;
(23) Payments
precipitated by an emergency or major disaster under the Disaster Relief and
Energy Assistance Amendments of 1988;
(24) The value of the Medicare Prescription
Drug Discount Card Program subsidy authorized by the Medicare Prescription Drug
Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003;
(25) Additional income received by a member
of the Armed Forces deployed to a combat zone, in accordance with
Public Law
108-447; and
(26) Employment income received from a
National Emergency Grant as part of the Workforce Investment Act, in accordance
with Public Law
105-220, and disaster unemployment assistance in
accordance with Public Law 100-707.
(L)
Income of Nonhousehold
Members. The income of a nonhousehold member shall be excluded
when determining the eligibility of the remaining household members, except
when the nonhousehold member has been disqualified in accordance with
106
CMR 361.230: Nonhousehold
Members. The income of a disqualified nonhousehold member must be
considered in accordance with
106
CMR 365.520: Disqualified
Non-household Members.
(M)
Training Stipends and Training-Related Expenses.
Training stipends including, but not limited to, payments from the Department
of Career Services (DCS), or the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC),
or nonprofit organizations that support job readiness. Reimbursement payments
for education and/or training-related expenses received from participation in
the Pathways to Work Program, or from other agencies and organizations that are
nonduplicative of Transitional Cash Assistance payments and are provided for
specific goods or services. Such payments include, but are not limited to,
those provided for transportation allowances, child care costs, and the costs
of books, supplies or uniforms.
(N)
Income of SSI Recipients and PASS Funds. Income of an
SSI recipient necessary for the fulfillment of a Plan for Achieving Self
Support (PASS) is excluded from income.
The PASS program allows persons who receive or who might
qualify to receive SSI benefits to develop a plan in which the goal is to
become employed. The PASS must be approved by the Social Security
Administration (SSA) to permit the individual to set aside a specified amount
of money to be used or deposited into a special bank account for future
use.
These specified funds are to be used to achieve the work goal
stated in the approved PASS and shall be excluded from income in determining
SNAP eligibility and benefit level.
PASS funds may include, but are not limited to, earned income
or unearned income, or funds from an insurance settlement. SSI benefits are not
used as PASS funds and, therefore, are still considered countable income for
SNAP purposes.
Exclusion of PASS funds from income for SNAP purposes is
verified by a copy of the PASS agreement and the PASS approval letter from the
SSA.
PASS funds are not counted as assets because the assets of a
household member who receives SSI are excluded for SNAP purposes, in accordance
with 106 CMR
363.140(H)(7).
(O)
Legally Obligated Child
Support Payments. Legally obligated child support payments paid by
a household member for a nonhousehold member, which are verified in accordance
with 106 CMR
361.610(J): Legal
Obligation and Actual Child Support Payment, are excluded from income
for the purpose of applying the appropriate gross income test.
