and excess shelter deductions.
(Apply the earned income deduction to the total amount of earned income
belonging to the excluded member.)
b. Excluded for ineligible alien
status or for refusal to obtain or provide an SSN: The earned and
unearned income of these excluded members is counted less the prorated
share representing the excluded member(s).
Deductible expenses for these
excluded members is the 20 percent earned income deduction applied to the
prorated earned income attributed to the remaining household members.
Shelter and dependent care
expenses paid by or billed to the excluded member are allowed less the
prorated share representing the excluded member(s).
8. Cash Gifts: count cash gifts
as income if they can be anticipated.
9. Recurring Lump Sums: consider
recurring lump sum payments from sources such as insurance policies or
sale of property as income when received.
10. All Other Payments: dividends,
interests, royalties, proceeds from trust funds, and all other payments
(except loans) from any source, that may be construed to be a gain or benefit.
NOTE: Interest paid
for savings/checking accounts, etc., must be annualized and budgeted as
income. Consider interest as income whether the household receives
a direct payment or the interest accrues to the account.
11. Contributions: money paid
for expenses directly to the household by a person outside the household.
EXAMPLE: Mrs. B. receives
SSI and her son gives her the money to pay her monthly phone bill.
The money from the son is counted as unearned income.
On the other hand, if the son pays
the money directly to the phone company, exclude the payment as income
and consider it a vendor payment.
NOTE: Exclude charitable
contributions from non-profit organizations not exceeding $300 per calendar
quarter.
12. Proceeds from Trust Funds:
monies withdrawn or dividends that are or could be received by a household
from trust funds under exempt resources. Consider such trust
withdrawals as income in
the month received unless otherwise exempt under income exclusions.
Consider dividends the household has the option of either receiving or
reinvesting in the trust as income in the month they become available to
the household unless exempt under income exclusions.
13. Adoption Subsidy: treat
adoption subsidy payments for general living expenses as unearned income
once an adoption is final. Exclude adoption subsidy payments for
reimbursement of child care or medical expenses from income. Treat
pre-adoption payments as Foster Care.
14. Gambling Income: consider
all gambling income as unearned income. If the household anticipates
receiving a check from one-time winnings, such as a lottery ticket, the
household can choose to average the income or count it in the month received.
Treat gambling winnings of a person who regularly plays bingo, bets on
racehorses, etc., as unearned, fluctuating income if it can be anticipated.
Do not count one-time winnings that cannot be anticipated as income.
15. Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)
and Trade Readjustment Allowance (TRA): these benefits are available
to workers who lose their jobs or whose work hours and wages are reduced
as a result of increased imports. TRA is a weekly benefit payable
to eligible workers following exhaustion of unemployment benefits.
It is paid only to individuals enrolled in a training program. An
individual may also receive an allowance for transportation and living
expenses if attending training or conducting a job search beyond the normal
commuting distance from home. If the individual finds a job beyond
the normal commuting distance from home and wants to relocate to the job
site, TAA may provide a relocation allowance. Count as income TRA
and TAA payments for living expenses (room, board, clothing, etc.).
Exempt from income TRA and TAA allowances for transportation, education,
and relocation expenses.
Employment Security sometimes combines
money for living expenses and transportation into one check. A check
which exceeds the weekly amount shown in the IMES screen generally includes
a transportation reimbursement. To correctly decide what amount to
budget as income, ask the client what kind of payment is included in their
check.
2. Vendor Payments:
payments paid to a third party for a household expense. Treat as
income or non-income as follows.
a. If a person or organization
outside of the household makes a direct payment using its own funds to
a household's creditors or a person or organization providing a service
to the household, exclude it.
EXAMPLE: Mrs.
Todd's brother, who lives in another town, pays her landlord her rent each
month from his own funds. The rent payment made by the brother is
not considered income.
(1) Exclude rent
or mortgage payments made to landlords or mortgagees by HUD or by state
or local housing authorities.
(2) Exclude payments by a
government agency to a child care institution for day care for a household
member.
b. Count IM vendor payments as income
unless for medical assistance, child care assistance, or energy assistance.
c. Exclude General Assistance
(GA) vendor payments from income. DMH vendor payments are considered
GA and are excluded from income. All DMH payments are vendor payments,
therefore, exclude all DMH payments from income.
d. Consider payments in money that
are not made to a third party but made directly to the household a contribution
and count as income. This does not include payments made directly
to the household or the utility provider from HUD or Farmers Home Administration
for utilities.
e. Count monies legally obligated
and otherwise payable to the household diverted by the payment provider
to a third party for a household expense as income.
The income/non-income distinction
is based on whether the person or organization making the payment on behalf
of a household is using funds that otherwise would be paid to the household.
Such funds include wages earned by a household member, an IM grant to which
a household