17.8 Excluded Income.

Types of excluded income include: A. Any gain or benefit that is not in the form of money payable directly to the household; 1. In-kind benefits: includes meals, clothes, housing or produce from a garden. 2. Vendor payments: money payment made on behalf of a household by an individual or organization outside of the household either directly to the household’s creditors or to an individual or organization providing a service to the household. a) Public Assistance vendor payments are counted as income unless they are made for: i. Medical assistance; ii. Child care assistance; iii. Energy assistance; iv. Emergency assistance for migrant or seasonal farmer households while in the job stream; v. Housing assistance payments made through a State or local housing authority; vi. Emergency or special assistance (the assistance must be over and above the normal grant). b) Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) vendor payments. Rent or mortgage payments made to landlords or mortgagees by HUD are excluded as income. c) Vendor payments that are reimbursements are excluded. d) Other third-party payments will be treated as follows: i. Money legally owed and payable to the household that is diverted by the provider of the payment to a third party for a household expense will be counted as income. ii. If an individual or organization makes a payment to a third party on behalf of a household using funds that are not owed to the household, the payment will be excluded. B. Educational assistance such as grants, scholarships, fellowships, work study or educational loans where payment is deferred and the following exists: 1. The educational assistance must be received under section 20 U.S.C. 1087uu of the Higher Education Act; 2. The educational assistance must be awarded to a household member enrolled at either: a) Recognized institution of post-secondary education; b) School for the handicapped; c) Vocational education program; d) Vocational or technical school; e) Program that provides for obtaining a secondary school diploma or the equivalent. 3. The educational assistance must be used for the following allowed expenses: a) Tuition; b) Books; c) Supplies; d) Mandatory school fees; e) Transportation; f) Miscellaneous personal expenses (other than normal living expenses); g) Dependent care; h) Origination fees and insurance premiums on educational loans. 4. Exclusions must be incurred or anticipated for the time the educational income is intended to cover regardless of when the educational income is actually received. 5. If a student uses other income sources to pay for the allowable educational expense in the months before the educational income is received, the exclusion to cover the expenses will be allowed when the educational income is actually received. C. Income received in the certification period too infrequently to be reasonably anticipated, but not greater than $30 in a quarter; D. All loans (including loans from private individuals and commercial institutions) other than educational loans on which repayment is deferred; 1. Loans in which repayment must start within 60 days after receipt of the loan will not be considered a deferred repayment loan. E. Reimbursements for past and future expenses as long as they do not exceed actual expenses and do not represent a gain or benefit to the household; 1. Note: Reimbursements for normal living expenses (rent/mortgage, clothes or food eaten at home) are not excluded because they represent a gain or benefit to the household. 2. To be excluded, the payments must be made for a particular expense and used for the intended purpose. 3. Reimbursements may cover multiple expenses. 4. Reimbursements will only be considered to exceed the actual expenses if the provider or the household determines the amount is excessive. 5. Excludable reimbursements include: a) Medical or dependent care reimbursements; b) Reimbursements received by households to pay for services provided by Title XX of the Social Security Act; c) Reimbursements for job or training related expenses such as travel, per diem, uniforms or transportation to and from the training site; d) Reimbursements for out-of-pocket expenses of volunteers incurred in the course of his or her work; e) Reimbursements made to the household for necessary expenses to participate in an education component under the E&T program; f) Any allowance a State agency provides no more frequently than annually for children’s clothes when the children enter or return to school or daycare, provided the State agency does not reduce the monthly TANF payment for the month in which the school clothes allowance is provided. F. The cost of producing self-employment income; G. Money received and used for the care and maintenance of a third-party beneficiary who is not a household member; H. The earned income of a student that is under age 18 and who lives with a biological, adopted or stepparent or under the parental control of a household member other than a parent; 1. The exclusion will apply during temporary interruptions from attendance due to semester or vacation breaks as long as the child’s enrollment will resume after the break. 2. If the child’s earnings or amount of work cannot be separated from other household members, the total earnings will be equally prorated among the working household members and the child’s share will be excluded. I. Money received in the form of nonrecurring lump-sum payments, including income tax refunds, rebates, or credits, retroactive lump-sum social security, SSI, public assistance or refunds of security deposits on rental property or utilities; J. Any income that is specifically excluded by other Federal statute for the purposes of determining SNAP eligibility including the following: 1. The value of assistance to children under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act according to P.L. 79-396, §12(e) and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 according to P.L. 89-642, §11(b); 2. Federal major disaster and emergency assistance payments and comparable disaster assistance provided by Mississippi such as Disaster Unemployment Assistance payments under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act according to P.L. 93-288, §312(d); 3. Reimbursement from the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policy Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-646, §216); 4. National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) payments made under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (P.L. 90-448, §1324); 5. Any payment to volunteers under Title II (RSVP, Foster Grandparents, and others) of the Domestic Volunteer Services Act of 1973 as amended (P.L. 93-113). Payments to volunteers under Title I (VISTA, University Year for Action and Urban Crime Prevention Program) are excluded only for individuals receiving SNAP at the time he or she joined the Title I program. The exclusion will continue even with temporary interruptions in SNAP participation; 6. Allowances, earnings, or payments (including reimbursements) to individuals participating in programs under WIOA, such as Summer Youth Payments and AmeriCorps; 7. The value of any childcare payments made under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act, including transitional child care payments (P.L. 100-485); 8. Payments received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (P.L. 92-203); 9. Per capita payments under the Indian Tribal Judgment Funds Use or Distribution Act of $2000 or less pursuant to P.L. 93-134 and P.L. 98-64. This exemption applies to each payment made to each individual; 10. Income derived from the disposition of funds to the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians (P.L. 94-540); 11. Income derived from certain submarginal land of the United States which is held in trust for certain Indian tribes (P.L. 94-114; §6); 12. Payments of relocation assistance to members of the Navajo and Hopi Tribes under P. L. 93-531; 13. Payments by the Indian Claims Commission to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation or the Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation (P.L. 95-433); 14. Payments to the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation or any of their members received pursuant to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-420, §5); 15. Funds distributed per capita to the Sac and Fox Indians according to P.L. 94-189; 16. Funds paid under Indian Claims: Distribution of Funds to Seminole Indians (P.L. 101-277, §8(b)) are excluded except for per capita payments in excess of $2000; 17. Payments to the Seneca Nation according to P.L. 101-503; 18. Payments to Confederated Tribes of Colville Reservations per P.L. 103-436; 19. Payments to the Blackfeet, Grosventre, and Assiniboine tribes (Montana) and the Papago tribes (Arizona) as designated under P.L. 97-408; 20. Per capita and interest payments made to the Red Lake Band of Chippewas pursuant to P.L. 98-123; 21. Per capita and interest payments made to the Assiniboine Tribe of the Fort Belknap Indian Community and Fort Peck Indian Reservation (Montana) pursuant to P.L. 98-124; 22. Payments to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewas, Arizona, pursuant to P.L. 97- 403; 23. Funds paid to heirs of deceased Indians under the Old Age Assistance Claims Settlement Act except for per capita shares in excess of $2000 according to P.L. 98-500, §8; 24. Payments to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan according to P.L. 99- 346, §6(b) and per capita funds according to P.L. 99-146 §6(b); 25. Funds to the Puyallup Tribe of Indians Settlement Act per P.L. 101-41; 26. Per capita payments to the Chippewas of the Mississippi pursuant to P.L. 99-377; 27. Income received by individuals age 55 and older under the Title V of the Older Americans Act according to P.L. 100-175, §509; 28. Grants paid under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-383) to certain U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry and permanent resident Japanese non-citizens or their survivors; 29. Payments made to children of Vietnam veterans who were born with spina bifida and certain other birth defects (P.L. 104-204); 30. All payments received under the Agent Orange Settlement Fund, or any other fund established pursuant to the settlement in the Agent Orange product liability litigation (P.L. 101-201 and P.L. 101-239, §10405). Note: The Agent Orange Act of 1991 (P.L. 102-4) authorized Veteran’s Administration (VA) benefit to some veterans with service-connected disabilities resulting from exposure to Agent Orange. These VA monthly payment are not excluded and will be counted as unearned income; 31. Payments made under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (P.L. 101-426); 32. Payments made to individuals because of their status as victims of Nazi persecution (P.L. 103-286); 33. Compensation paid to crime victims under the Crime Act of 1984 (amended by P.L. 103-322); 34. Income earned in an Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account is not taxed if spent on qualified disability-related expenses. ABLE accounts allow for significant amounts of money to be put into a tax-advantaged savings and investment account without affecting eligibility for means tested programs such as SSI and Medicaid (P.L. 113-295, §103). K. Energy Assistance such as: 1. Payments or allowances for providing energy assistance under any Federal law besides part A of Title IV of the Social Security Act. This includes utility reimbursements made by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Rural Housing Service. 2. A one-time payment or allowance for an as-needed basis and made under a Federal or State law for weatherization costs or emergency repair or replacement of an unsafe furnace or other heating or cooling device. L. Cash donations based on need received on or after February 1, 1988 from one or more private nonprofit charities. These payments must not exceed $300 in a Federal fiscal year quarter; M. Earned income tax credit payments received either as a lump sum or payments under section 3507 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; N. Any payments made to an E&T participant for costs that are reasonably necessary and directly related to the E&T program. Such costs may include: 1. Dependent care costs; 2. Transportation; 3. Other expenses related to work, training or education such as uniform or necessary books or training manuals; 4. The costs may not include meals away from home; 5. The value of any dependent care service provided for or arranged under E&T will be excluded. O. Governmental foster care payments received by households with foster care individuals who are considered boarders; P. Income of an SSI recipient which fulfills a plan for achieving self-support (PASS) which has been approved under section 1612(b)(4)(A)(iii) or 1612(b)(4)(B)(iv) of the Social Security Act; Q. Income received by a member of the U.S. Armed Forces under Chapter 5 of Title 37 of the U.S. Code that is: 1. In addition to the service member’s basic pay; 2. As a result of the service member’s deployment in an area designated a combat zone; and 3. Not received by the service member prior to the service member’s deployment to an area designated as a combat zone. Source: 7 CFR §273.9(c) Revised: March 2022