Determining income.

(1) Income already received by the household during the certification period and any income that can reasonably be anticipated during the remainder of the certification period shall be used in determining the household's eligibility and level of food stamp benefits. If the amount of income that will be received, or when it will be received is uncertain, that portion of the household's income that is uncertain shall not be counted as income. In situations where the receipt of the income is reasonably certain but the monthly amount may fluctuate, the household can elect to income-average in accordance with paragraph (5) of this subdivision.

(3) Wages retained by an employer at the request of the employee shall be considered income to the household in the month the wages would otherwise have been paid by the employer. Wages retained by the employer as a general practice, even if in violation of law, shall not be counted as income to the household unless the household anticipates that it will ask for and receive an advance, or that it will receive income from wages that were previously held by the employer and which were not previously counted as income. Advances of wages shall count as income in the month received only if their receipt is reasonably anticipated, as noted in this section.

(4) Households receiving public assistance (ADC and HR), SSI or social security payments or similar Federal and State benefits on a recurring basis shall not have their monthly income from these sources varied for the purpose of calculating income in determining food stamp benefits merely because mailing cycles may cause two payments to be received in one month and none in the next month.

(5) Income-averaging.

(i) Households, except destitute migrant households, and households subject to a monthly reporting requirement for public assistance, may elect to have their income averaged. Income shall not be averaged for a destitute migrant household since averaging would result in assigning income to the month of application from future periods which is not available for current food needs. The household's expectations regarding income fluctuations over the certification period shall be used in averaging income. The number of months used to arrive at the average income need not be the same as the number of months in the certification period.

(ii) Households which, by contract or self-employment, derive their annual income in a period of time which is less than one year shall have that income averaged over a 12-month period, provided the income from the contract is not received on an hourly or piecework basis. Such individuals may include members who are school employees, sharecroppers, farmers, and other self-employed persons. However, these provisions do not apply to migrant or seasonal farm workers.

(iii) Households receiving scholarships, deferred educational loans, or other educational grants shall have such income, after exclusions, averaged over the period for which it was provided.