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SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL – SECTION 5000 5600 Self-Employment Income 5621 Households with Boarders

5621 Households with Boarders SNAP Manual 01/01/00 A boarder is a person to whom a household furnishes lodging and meals for compensation. Boarders are excluded from the SNAP household when the household’s eligibility and benefit level is determined. Income from the boarder includes all direct payments to the household. However, shelter expenses paid directly by the boarder to someone outside of the household are not counted as income and are not deducted as a shelter cost. EXAMPLE 1: A boarder pays, in addition to his board payment, $15.00 per month to the household as his portion of the heating bill. This payment of $15.00 is counted as income to the household. EXAMPLE 2: A boarder pays the household’s gas bill directly to the gas company. The value of this payment is not income to the household. The gas bill is not allowed as a shelter cost.

5622 Allowable Costs of Doing Business SNAP Manual 01/01/00 Households with boarders may exclude as income all allowable costs of doing business. The allowable cost of doing business is equal to: • The maximum SNAP benefit amount for a household size equal to the number of boarders; or • The actual documented costs of providing room and meals if the actual costs exceed the appropriate SNAP benefit amount. If actual costs are used, only separate and identifiable costs of providing the room and meals to boarders will be excluded as income.  NOTE: The allowable costs of doing business must not exceed the payment the household receives from the boarder. EXAMPLE 1:Mr. Seller has two boarders in his household. They pay $200 each to Mr. Seller each month. Mr. Seller does not keep records of his expenses for providing rooms and meals to his boarders. As of 10-1-01, the maximum SNAP benefit amount for a two person household was $238. $238 will be excluded from the $400 total payment as the allowable cost of doing business.