COUNTABLE EARNED INCOME

The following shall be considered as earned income: A. Wages and Salaries 1. All payments for services as an employee, including garnishments, or money payments legally obligated to the employee and diverted to a third party for the employee's household expenses. Countable income from employment received by students in institutions of higher education while participating in state work-study programs or a fellowship with a work requirement shall not be considered earned income. 2. Earned income includes government payments from Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service and wages of AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America

(VISTA) workers. VISTA payments are excluded if the client was receiving SNAP benefits when they joined VISTA. If the client was not receiving SNAP benefits when they joined VISTA, the VISTA payments shall count as earned income. Temporary interruptions in SNAP participation shall not alter the exclusion once an initial determination has been made (see Section 4.405.2, A, 3). Temporary interruptions shall be defined as a period where a household or individual missed a full month of benefits, excluding instances where the lapse in benefits is due to the local office not taking timely action in accordance with the processing standards outlined in Sections 4.604, 4.205, or 4.209.1. 3. Wages held at the request of the employee shall be considered income to the household in the month the wages would otherwise have been paid by the employer. Advances on wages shall count as income in the month received, if reasonably anticipated. However, wages held by the employer as a general practice shall not be counted as income unless the household anticipates that it will receive income from such wages previously withheld by the employer. When an advance on wages is subsequently repaid from current wages, only the wages received is considered as income. The amount of repayment is disregarded, even if the wage-earner was not a SNAP participant at the time of the advance. 4. Payment for sick leave, vacation pay, and bonus pay shall be considered as earned income, if the person was still employed while receiving the pay. B. Training Allowances 1. Payments from vocational and rehabilitation programs recognized by federal, state, or local governments, such as the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Program, to the extent they are not a reimbursement, except for allowances paid under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). 2. Earned income will include earnings to individuals who are participating in the on-the-job training under Section 204(5), Title II, of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

(WIOA). This provision does not apply to household members under nineteen (19) years of age who are under the parental control of another adult member. Earnings include monies paid by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and monies paid by an employer. C. Title I Monies Payments received under Title I (VISTA-University Year of Action) of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 shall be considered earned income and subject to the earned income deduction, excluding payments made to those households specified in Section 4.405.2. D. Income of Strikers Pre-strike eligibility is determined by considering the day prior to the strike as the day of application and assuming the strike was not occurring. Eligibility at the time of application shall be determined by comparing the striking member's income as of the day before the strike to the striking member's current income and adding the higher of the two to the current income of the non-striking household members during the month of application. E. Self-Employment The method of ascertaining the self-employment income to be considered for SNAP purposes is often difficult and the guidelines set forth in Sections 4.403.1–4.403.12 are meant to clarify and aid the process. In determining gross self-employment income, all income received by the self-employment household must be considered. Self-employment income includes: 1. Monies received from rental or lease of self-employment property. Rental property shall be considered a self-employment enterprise. However, the income will be considered as earned income only if the household member (or disqualified person) actively manages the property at least an average of twenty (20) hours per week. 2. Monies received from the sale of capital goods, services, and property connected to the self-employment enterprise. Proceeds of sales from capital goods or equipment are to be treated as income rather than as capital gains. The term “capital gains”, as used by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), describes the handling of the profit from the sale of capital assets such as, but not limited to, computers and other electronic devices, office furniture, vehicles, and equipment used in a self- employment enterprise; or securities, real estate, or other real property held as an investment for a set time period. For SNAP purposes, the total amount received from the sale of capital goods shall be counted as income to the household. F. Owners of Limited Liability Corporations (LLC) and S-Corporations For SNAP purposes, owners of LLCs or S-Corporations are considered employees of the corporation and, therefore, cannot be considered self-employed. The income from these types of corporations should be treated as regular earned income, not self-employment income. If the owner of the LLC or S-Corporation takes a draw, the total business income minus all expenses will count as earned income for the client. If the owner receives a salary, we count all payments for services as an employee as regular earned income. There are situations where the owner of an LLC or S-Corporation may receive a salary and a draw, so both sources of income must be counted. Client statement of LLC and S-Corporation income is acceptable, unless questionable. If the income meets the SNAP definition of questionable, verification can be provided in the form of pay stubs, bank records, the LLC or S-Corporation owner’s individual form 1040, or any other document that sufficiently establishes countable earned income for the owner. G. Boarder Income The income of boarders shall include all direct payments to the household for room and meals, including contributions to the household for shelter expenses. Shelter expenses paid directly by boarders to someone outside of the household shall not be counted as income to the household. See Section 4.403.2 regarding calculating income from a boarder.