387.11 Income exclusions.

(a) Monies withheld from an assistance payment, earned income, or other income source, or monies received from any income source which are voluntarily or involuntarily returned to repay a prior overpayment received from that income source, provided that the overpayment was not excludable under section 387.9 of this Part. However, monies withheld from assistance from a Federal, State or local welfare program which is means-tested and distributes public-funded benefits for purposes of recouping an overpayment which resulted from the household's intentional failure to comply with the other program's requirements must not be excluded. However, assistance from a means-tested publicly-funded benefits program which has been discontinued as a result of a penalty due to the recipient's intentional failure to comply with one or more requirements of the means-tested public assistance program must not be excluded.

(b) Child support payments received by ADC recipients which must be transferred to the agency administering title IV-D of the Social Security Act, as amended.

(c) Any gain or benefit which is not in the form of money payable directly to the household, including nonmonetary or in-kind benefits, such as meals, clothing, public housing, or produce from a garden, and vendor payments. Money payments that are not payable directly to a household, but are paid to a third party for a household expense, are vendor payments and are excludable as follows:

(1) A payment made in money on behalf of a household shall be considered a vendor payment whenever a person or organization outside of the household uses its own funds to make a direct payment to either the household's creditors or a person or organization providing a service to the household.

(2) Payments in money that are not made to a third party, but are made directly to the household, are to be counted as income and are not excluded as a vendor payment except that rent or housing subsidies paid to a landlord by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development shall be considered a vendor payment regardless of whether the payment is made directly to the landlord or paid to the landlord through the household.

(3) Monies that are legally obligated and otherwise payable to the household, but which are diverted by the provider of the payment to a third party for a household expense must be counted as income and not excluded as a vendor payment. However, emergency public assistance payments to a third party made on behalf of migrant or seasonal farmworker households during the period such households are in the job stream must be excluded as income.

(d) Cash donations based on need received from one or more private non-profit charitable organizations to the extent that such donations do not total more than $300 in any quarter of a Federal fiscal year.

(e) Any income in the certification period which is received too infrequently or irregularly to be reasonably anticipated, but not in excess of $30 in a quarter.

(f) Student financial assistance received by an individual from any program funded in whole or in part under title IV of the United States Higher Education Act or by the Bureau of Indian Affairs student assistance programs, is excluded as income. Student financial assistance not funded under title IV, as provided in this subdivision, that is excludable includes: educational loans on which payment is deferred, grants, scholarships, fellowships, veterans' educational benefits, and similar benefits to the extent that they are used or made available by the school, institution, a vocational education program, a program providing for completion of a secondary school diploma or obtaining an equivalent, or other grantor for tuition and mandatory school fees, books, supplies, transportation and miscellaneous personal expenses (other than living expenses) at an institution of post-secondary education, including correspondence schools at that level, or a school at any level for the physically or mentally handicapped. Mandatory fees include costs for the rental or purchase of any equipment, materials or supplies related to the pursuit of the course of study involved. Origination and insurance fees withheld by a lending institution from the proceeds of any deferred educational loan are excluded.

(g) All loans, including loans from private individuals as well as commercial institutions, other than educational loans on which repayment is deferred.

(h) Reimbursements for past or future expenses, to the extent they do not exceed actual expenses, and do not represent a gain or benefit to the household. Benefits provided under the Aid to Dependent Children program, to the extent such benefit is attributed to an adjustment for work-related or child care expenses, shall not be considered excludable under this provision. Reimbursements for normal household living expenses such as rent or mortgage, personal clothing, or food eaten at home are a gain or benefit, and are not excluded. To be excluded under this subdivision, payments must be specifically provided for an identified expense, other than normal living expenses, and must be used for the purpose intended. When a reimbursement, including a flat allowance, covers multiple expenses, each expense does not have to be separately identified as long as none of the reimbursement covers normal living expenses. The amount by which a reimbursement exceeds the actual incurred expense shall be counted as income. However, reimbursements shall not be considered to exceed actual expenses, unless the provider or the household indicates the amount is in excess of actual expenses. Examples of reimbursements that are excluded which are not considered to be a gain or benefit to the household are:

(1) Job- or training-related expenses. Reimbursements or flat allowances for job- or training-related expenses such as travel, per diem, uniforms, and transportation to and from the job or training site. Reimbursements which are provided over and above the basic wages for these expenses are excluded; however, these expenses, if not reimbursed, are not otherwise deductible. Reimbursements for the travel expenses incurred by migrant workers are also excluded.

(2) Out-of-pocket volunteer expenses. Reimbursements for out-of-pocket expenses of volunteers incurred in the course of their volunteer work.

(3) Medical or dependent care reimbursements.

(4) Specific student educational expenses. Reimbursements or allowances from any nonfederal educational loan on which payment is deferred, grant, scholarship, fellowship and veterans' educational benefits provided to students for specific educational expenses, such as travel or books, but not including allowances for normal living expenses, such as food, rent or clothing. All portions of such nonfederal educational funding must be specifically earmarked by the grantor for educational expenses rather than for living expenses to be excludable as a reimbursement. No portion of any Federal educational loan on which payment is deferred, grant, scholarship, fellowship or veterans' benefits can, to the extent that they provide educational assistance beyond that used for tuition and mandatory school fees, be excluded as a reimbursement under this paragraph. However, such Federal educational assistance may be excludable as set forth in subdivision (e) of this section.

(5) Title XX services reimbursement. Reimbursements received by households to pay for services provided pursuant to title XX of the Social Security Act. (Compilation of the Social Security Laws; 1985; 99th Congress, 1st Session; pages 765-770; U.S. Government Printing Office; Washington, DC.)

(i) Monies received and used for the care and maintenance of a third-party beneficiary who is not a household member. If the intended beneficiaries of a single payment are both household and nonhousehold members, any identifiable portion of the payment intended and used for the care and maintenance of the nonhousehold member shall be excluded. If the nonhousehold member's portion cannot be readily identified, the payment shall be evenly prorated among intended beneficiaries and the exclusion applied to the nonhousehold member's pro rata share or the amount actually used for the nonhousehold member's care and maintenance, whichever is less.

(k) Lump-sum nonrecurring payments, including but not limited to income tax refunds, rebates or credits, retroactive lump-sum social security, SSI, public assistance, railroad retirement benefits, lump-sum insurance settlements, or refunds of security deposits on rental property or utilities. These payments shall be counted as resources in the month received, unless otherwise specifically excluded from consideration as a resource.

(l) The cost of producing self-employment income as described in section 387.16 of this Part.

(m) Any income that is otherwise specifically excluded from consideration as income for the purpose of determining eligibility for the Food Stamp Program.

(n) Payments or allowances made under any Federal law (other than part A of title IV of the Social Security Act) for the purpose of energy assistance or a one-time payment or allowance made under a Federal or State law for the costs of weatherization or emergency repair or replacement of an unsafe or inoperative furnace or other heating or cooling device. Among the Federal payments that would be excluded are energy assistance payments provided through the Department of Health and Human Services Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Additionally, vendor payments or Emergency Aid to Families (EAF) or Emergency Home Relief (EHR) made by local districts to assist public assistance households which exceed the normal public assistance fuel allowance as set forth in section 352.5 of this Title shall be excluded as income. Emergency payments for fuel paid to households who are not in receipt of public assistance and emergency payments for fuel paid to SSI households must also be excluded.

(o) Income of non-household members as referred to in the definition of household concept in section 387.1 of this Part.

(p) Advance payment of earned income credit, as authorized by the Internal Revenue Code, received on or after January 1, 1989.