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FS A boarder is charged $100 per month and must pay the household's electric bill of $50 per month. The boarder pays the electric company directly. The amount considered income from the boarder is $100 per month.

Roomers 4.37.2 ALL A roomer is a person who is not a group member but lives with the group for lodging and does not eat with or pay the group for food. A roomer lives in someone else's home and pays rent to the owner. Count the gross rental payment minus expenses. Such expenses must be clearly associated with the rental unit (i.e., expenses the group would incur as a result of renting out part of its home). If expenses are greater than the gross rental payment, then reduce gross rental payment to zero. Roomer income is considered unearned income if no services are provided. Roomer income is considered earned if services are provided. Roommates - Shared Living Arrangements 4.37.3 MA Shared living arrangements occur when separate households occupy the same dwelling and neither household owns the dwelling. Roommates jointly pay for the cost of housing to an outside entity. The households have an agreement to divide common costs such as rent, utilities, and so on. Payments made by one household to the other under the agreement will not be counted as income since the receiving party acts primarily as a courier in taking the payments to the landlord or utility company. Exclude cash payments given to the assistance group by a non-group household member for his/her share of the household expense. The household that pays the landlord does not have the money counted as income. TANF See MA. GC See MA. FS When determining the shelter costs of a group that shares housing with a roommate, only that portion of the rent and utilities paid by the group are counted. RETIREMENT INCOME 4.38 ALL Retirement benefits include annuities and federal, state, or local government and private pensions. Count the gross amount as unearned income except exclude any portion that is diverted to an ex- spouse as a requirement of the divorce decree or settlement. RETROACTIVE BENEFITS 4.39 ALL Retroactive benefits are treated as assets or lump sums (see Section 1.21: Non-Recurring Lump Sums and Accrued Benefits in this Part and Section 4.26: Lump Sums and Accrued Benefits in this Chapter). SELF-EMPLOYMENT 4.40 MA An employer is responsible for withholding Social Security and income taxes from an employee's earnings. To determine whether a person has an employer or is self-employed, determine whether the person is responsible for withholding taxes from his/her earnings. A person who runs his/her own business is self-employed. This includes selling goods or direct services (such as a boarding house). Countable earnings from self-employment equal the total proceeds minus allowable expenses of producing the income. If the allowable expenses exceed the total proceeds, the amount of the loss cannot offset any other income.