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S N A P M A N U A L
177 In no event will the Agency automatically attribute to the household the amounts of any past income. The Agency will not use past income as an indicator of anticipated income when changes in income have occurred or can be anticipated during the certification period. (2) Income only in month received
Income anticipated during the certification period will be counted as income only in the month it is expected to be received, unless the income is averaged. Whenever a full month's income is anticipated but is received on a weekly or biweekly basis, the Agency will convert the income to a monthly amount by multiplying weekly amounts by 4.33, biweekly amounts by 2.16, or use the exact monthly figure if it can be anticipated for each month of the certification period.
NOTE: Nonrecurring lump-sum payments will be counted as a resource starting in the month received and will not be counted as income as defined in Section 10.5 Lump Sum Payments as Resources.
Wages held at the request of the employee will be considered income to the household in the month the wages would otherwise have been paid by the employer. However, wages held by the employer as a general practice, even if in violation of law, will 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 as a general practice and that were, therefore, not previously counted as income by the Agency. Advances on wages will count as income in the month received only if reasonably anticipated as defined in Section 13.4 Determining Income (1) Anticipating income. Households receiving income on a recurring monthly or semimonthly basis will not have their monthly income varied merely because of changes in mailing cycles or pay dates or because weekends or holidays cause additional payments to be received in a month. (3) Income averaging To average income, the Agency will use the household's anticipation of monthly income to be received over the certification period. An average must be recalculated at recertification, in accordance with Chapter 17 Recertification of SNAP Households, and in response to changes in income, in accordance Chapter 15 Change Reporting Requirements. Households which, by contract or self-employment, derive their annual income in a period of time shorter than 1 year will have that income averaged over a 12-month period provided the income from the contract is not received on an hourly or piecework basis. These households may include school employees, sharecroppers, farmers, and other self-employed households. However, these provisions do not apply to migrant or seasonal farmworkers. The procedures for determining self- employed income are described in Section 11.4 Self-employment Income. Contract income which is not the household's annual income and is not paid on an hourly or piecework basis will be prorated over the period the income is intended to cover.