Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
Household expenses which can be deducted from income include
only certain costs of dependent care, child support, medical and shelter
expenses.
A. Expenses not allowed as
deductions:
(1) Vendor payments and
reimbursements: An expense covered by an excluded reimbursement or vendor
payment is not deductible. Vendor payments are those paid directly to a
household's creditors by a non-household member, while reimbursements are paid
to a household after it has paid creditors.
(2) Reimbursable medical expenses: That
portion of an allowable medical expense which is reimbursable will not be
included as a household's medical expense when calculating the medical expense
deduction.
(3) Service provided by
household member: Expenses will be deductible only for a service provided by
someone outside a participating household, and for which the household makes a
money payment. Only money received from an outside source is considered income
to a household; money paid to a provider outside the household is counted as a
deductible expense.
(4) Child care
expenses: Child care expenses which are reimbursed or paid for by the Jobs
Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program (JOBS) under Title IV-F of the
Social Security Act 42 USC 681 or the transitional child care (TCC) program
will not be deductible when calculating the dependent care deduction allowed
for a household.
(5) Child support
expenses: A child support deduction will not be allowed if the household does
not report or verify its monthly child support payment or a change in its legal
obligation.
B. Billed
expenses:
(1) Allowing a deduction: A
deduction is allowed only in the month the expense is billed or otherwise
becomes due, regardless of when the household intends to pay it.
(2) Arrears: Amounts carried forward from
past billing periods (arrears) are not deductible, even if included in the most
recent billing and actually paid by the household, unless these expenses are
billed less often than monthly and are averaged. A particular expense may be
deducted only once. Rent, mortgage payments or property taxes that are in
arrears are not allowed, even if they were not previously allowed in any
certification period.
(3) Expense
not allowed: If a household receives a bill during the certification period but
does not report it until it is past due, the expense may not be allowed as a
deduction. Similarly, late charges assessed to a household on a past due bill
are not allowed as a deductible expense.
(4) Billed medical expenses: If a household
claims a deduction for billed medical expenses but does not know or cannot
verify the portion of billed expenses that will be reimbursed, the expense is
allowed after the reimbursement is received or can otherwise be verified,
rather than in the month the bill is received. Only the unreimbursed amount of
the bill is deductible. A deduction will be allowed when the household verifies
that a billed medical expense will not be paid directly to the provider by a
third party or will not be reimbursed to the household by an insurance company
or government program.
(5) Child
support deduction:
(a) Child support is not an
allowable deduction when billed. Verification of payment must be received prior
to allowance of the deduction.
(b)
The child support deduction will include amounts paid toward arrearages,
provided that the household has at least a three month record of
payments.
C.
Anticipating expenses: A household's expenses will be calculated based on the
expenses the household expects to be billed during the certification period.
(1) Anticipation of expenses is based on the
most recent month's bills, unless the household is reasonably certain a change
will occur.
(2) If actual costs for
a household's heating/cooling or other utility expenses are anticipated to be
less than the appropriate mandatory utility standard, the appropriate mandatory
utility standard shall be allowed.
(3) Income conversion procedures will apply
to anticipated expenses billed on a weekly or biweekly basis.
(4) Child support will be anticipated based
on actual payments during past months and reasonably certain changes expected
in the future.
D.
Averaging expenses: A household may choose to have fluctuating expenses
averaged.
E. One-time expenses: A
household may choose to have a one-time only expense averaged over the entire
certification period, or allowed in the month the expense is billed or becomes
due.
(1) If a household chooses the one-time
expense deduction, the caseworker will document the expense in the case file.
Such expenses include annual property taxes and insurance.
(2) A one-time expense may be averaged over
the period the billing is intended to cover.
(3) A household may choose to have a one-time
only expense reported at certification deducted in a lump sum or averaged over
the certification period.
(4) A
household reporting a one-time only medical expense during its certification
period may choose to have a one-time expense deduction or to have the expense
averaged over the remaining months of the certification period.
(a) If a household incurs a one-time only
medical expense and makes arrangements with the provider to pay in monthly
installments (beyond the current certification period), the expense may be
allowed each month as arranged.
(b)
A household reporting a one-time only medical expense during the certification
period may choose to have a one-time deduction or to have the expense averaged
over the remaining months of the certification period. Averaging would begin
the month the change becomes effective.
(c) If a household is billed for and reports
an expense during the last month of the certification period, the deduction may
not be allowed unless it will be paid in installments during the following
certification period. The deduction will be allowed during the appropriate
number of months in the following certification period.
F. Expenses billed less often than
monthly: Households may choose to have expenses which are billed less often
than monthly averaged forward over the interval between scheduled billings or,
if there is no scheduled interval, averaged forward over the period the expense
is intended to cover. Averaging may be used even if the bill is received before
the certification period. Averaging is governed by the scheduling of the bill
or the period the expense is intended to cover.
G. Fluctuating medical expenses: Fluctuating
medical expenses will be allowed as deductions if regularly recurring,
reasonably anticipated, and verified. Medical expenses will not be calculated
by averaging past months' medical expenses. Past expenses are used only as an
indicator of what can reasonably be anticipated.
H. Dependent care: Dependent care expenses
paid on a weekly or biweekly basis will be averaged if a household has chosen
to average income. Conversion procedures will be used if a household is billed
on a weekly or biweekly basis.
