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of age or older. If the applicant’s remaining countable income exceeds D.C.’s maximum payment level, the applicant is ineligible for benefits. When determining the eligibility of on-going recipients and the level of benefits to which a family is eligible to receive, a $160 work expense deduction is applied and then an additional two thirds of remaining earned income is deducted to compute countable earned income. The same dependent care deductions apply to recipients and applicants. A family is eligible for benefits equal to the difference between its countable income (composed of countable earned and unearned income) and the payment level.

Exclusion of direct cash assistance payments from benefit determination

a) Pursuant to the District’s Earned Income Tax Credit Expansion Clarification Amendment Act of 2022, earned income tax credits as well as other refundable income tax credits targeted to low-income households are excluded as income for the purposes of benefit calculation. Additionally, TANF applicants or recipients who receive direct cash assistance payments from District based cash assistance programs or pilot programs, administered by a non profit organization, that provide unrestricted cash assistance directly to individuals or households, will not have these payments counted as income for the purposes of benefit calculations. Excluding these payments allows TANF beneficiaries to receive additional household assistance without impact to their TANF benefit amount. These exclusions apply to payments made by organizations who the District has identified as meeting the required criteria for exempted assistance payments.