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SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL – SECTION 4000 3B4400 Excluded Resources 17B4451 Moved to SNAP 4300

makes contributions into such an account (P.L. 104-193). See SNAP 4460 for additional IDA exclusions. 18. Funds in Department of Housing Urban Development’s (HUD) Family Self-Sufficiency Program escrow accounts are excluded as resources when determining eligibility for SNAP. When a Family Self-sufficiency program participant has an increase in earnings, the public housing authority increases his or her rent, but deposits the increase in an interest-bearing account. When the participant successfully completes the program and can verify that no household member is receiving welfare assistance, he or she receives the funds in the account. Funds may be withdrawn from the escrow account before completing the program with permission from the housing authority, but only for purposes related to goal of the FSS contract, e.g.-completion of higher education, job training, or start-up costs of a small business. Since the funds in the escrow accounts, as well as any funds withdrawn from them prior to completion of the program are not available to buy food, the funds are inaccessible-thus excluded as resources.

19. Under Section 5(g)(8)(A) of the Tax increase Prevention Act of 2014 excludes from resources the value of educational accounts in section 529 of the Internal Revenue code of 1986. In section 5(g)(8)(B), the Act further provides for a discretionary exclusion for the value of other financial accounts, as determined by the Secretary. FNS has determined that due to the similarities between 529 educational accounts and 529A ABLE accounts, ABLE accounts should be excluded as resources under the discretionary exclusion in the Act.

4451 Moved to SNAP 4300 SNAP Manual 01/01/03