Page 20

Iowa LIHEAP Policy and Procedures Manual 6.00 Income

Effective 09/01/2023

Page | 14

6.00 INCOME

Proof of income is required to be present in every file for each source of countable income in the household. Earned income of individuals under age 18 is exempt from countable income, unless working full- time or the individual is emancipated and applying as head of household (see Section 5.30).

A LIHEAP customer must provide all required income documentation when making application. Assistance will be given, if necessary, for elderly and disabled LIHEAP customers to help them obtain their income.

Verification of income may be made through documentary evidence in the possession of the LIHEAP customer household. If documentary evidence is not available from the household, verification may be obtained from the source of income, but not from a third party, such as a credit counseling agency.

Income verification, whether provided by the LIHEAP customer or verified by the source of income, should include identification of the payee, date of payment, gross amount of payment and source of payment. Alternate methods of verifying income must be offered to LIHEAP customers. Problems in obtaining income verification for individuals or particular categories of individuals should be brought to the attention of the state LIHEAP office.

Each local administering CAA is required to maintain an electronic database containing individual LIHEAP customer applications and proof of eligibility for Energy Assistance and Weatherization. Photocopies or scanned copies of income verification or “I saw” or” I heard” notes certified by CAA staff are acceptable.

6.10 Eligibility Period to Qualify for Assistance For purposes of qualifying for Energy Assistance, a LIHEAP customer may elect to use the most recent 30 calendar days, the most recent 12 months, or the most recent calendar year as a qualification period. If a LIHEAP customer is not eligible under the time period first selected, alternative periods may be selected to qualify. The LIHEAP customer must be informed of the right to select different qualification periods.

The entire household must use one verification period (e.g., one household member cannot use a tax return while the other household members use the 30-day verification period).

If applicants are unable to qualify for the program using a standard verification period, agencies are authorized to use a 30-day look-ahead period in cases of layoffs or reduction in hours. This applies to the LIHEAP Regular Assistance and Crisis applications. A standard verification period must be used for other household members.

Households selecting the annual qualification period may use their most recent filed Federal tax return (state tax return does not provide sufficient documentation of all earned income) from the current filing year or the previous filing year (depending on when they apply for assistance) or W-2 statement. A 1040X is an amendment and does not include sufficient information needed to calculate income, therefore it can only be used in conjunction with the 1040. A 1099 SSA form is used to represent annual Social Security payments. If using this form for income verification the number in Box 5 should be used as this amount corresponds to Box 6b on the 1040.

Through April 18, 2024 a 2022 completed tax return can be used if a 2023 return is not available. After April 18, 2024 customers should use a 2023 completed tax return.

When using a Federal tax return to verify income, all pages completed by the customer or preparer that align with the current LIHEAP Tax Return Usage Guide, including all pages with a signature required, must be provided and scanned into the system. Pages that do not align with the Tax Return Usage Guide or do not contain information specific to the customer (e.g. filing instructions, term definitions etc.) do not need to