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Page | 144 E. INCOME TAX REFUNDS AND EARNED INCOME TAX CREDITS

Under Section 728 of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (P.L.111-132), income tax refunds and Earned Income Tax credits are excluded from income consideration.

F. ENERGY ASSISTANCE

Exclude payments or allowances made for the purpose of providing energy assistance under Federal law and any one-time payments or allowances made under 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. To qualify for the exclusion, energy payments must meet the following conditions: 1. All payments made by the Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) are excluded. 2. Individual payments must be identifiable as energy assistance. Energy payments which are combined with other payments must be identifiable as to the dollar amount of the energy assistance portion of the payment. Only the energy assistance portion is excludable under this provision. If the check or warrant itself does not provide sufficient information, certification staff may need to verify with the provider the nature and amount of the payment. 3. Utility reimbursements from low-income housing are excluded fully. A utility deduction is allowed if out of pocket heating or cooling expenses are incurred. 4. The energy allowance must be calculated based on the seasonal home energy needs of typical households over a period not exceeding six months per year. Payments may be made in the form of warrants or checks, as lines of credit, as vendor payments, or similar allowances. Two-party checks issued to the customer and a provider are normally considered vendor payments because the check cannot be negotiated by the household alone. Payments may be one-time or may be ongoing. Payments may also be for energy saving items such as weatherization and insulation as well as for assistance with utility bills. As an exclusion, the amount of the energy assistance payment need not be verified. However, it may be necessary to verify whether or not the payment is in fact energy assistance.

G. RECOUPMENT FOR PRIOR OVERPAYMENTS

Money withheld from an assistance payment, earned income or other income source, or moneys received from an income source which is voluntarily or involuntarily returned to repay a previous overpayment from that same income source (e.g. SSA and SSI are from the same source) is excluded as income, regardless of the reason for the overpayment.

Money withheld from an income source used to repay a previous overpayment from a different source is counted as income.

H. CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS

Legally obligated child support payments paid by a member of the household to or for an individual not residing in the payer's residence are excluded from the payer’s household income. The exclusion is allowed regardless of whether it is current or arrearages. Legally Example: Customer was overpaid SSI benefits of $500. SSA is taking $20 of their current SSI payment of $735 to pay for the overpayment. The EABS would budget $715 since the overpayment is from the same income source (SSA).

Exception: TANF recoupments withheld to repay an intentional program violation (IPV) must have the IPV recouped amount added back into the TANF grant in the SNAP budgeting process.