Page 61

60

PY26 WHEAP Manual

Revised: August 2025 Ignored Income Types • Veteran’s Aid and Attendance is ignored regardless of whether the aide/caregiver is a household member. • Certain government payments are counted income when the annual amount is equal to or greater than $120. Anything less than $120 is ignored. • DNR programs that pay royalties (e.g., stumpage) • USDA programs (e.g., crop disaster relief programs) • Agriculture programs (e.g., CRP) • Tax credits – tax credits such as farmland preservation and homestead credit claimed on Wisconsin income taxes. In-kind Income Do not count any gain or benefit that is not in the form of money payable directly to the household, such as: meals, clothing, housing, or garden produce. This includes but is not limited to: • Benefits received from the supplemental food program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) • FoodShare (Food Stamps) benefits Jury Duty Ignore any payments received for performing jury duty. If any counted income is paid during jury duty, the income is counted as normal. See Section 3.3.7 Income Counted Table. Kinship Care Cash benefit paid to caretaker relatives of minor children. Count the child in the household. Land Rent Income from land used for, including but not limited to, cash crop fields or pastured livestock. Ignore annual amount earned if less than $120; count as income if annual earned amount is $120 or more. Loans Ignore all loans including, but not limited to, student loans and reverse mortgages a person received in the prior month test period from private individuals or business sources. (This includes advances on a credit card.) Lump Sum Payments, Non-recurring There are some lump sum payments that are counted as income, but most are not. Examples of not counted lump sum payments include: • Income tax refunds (paid in lump sums or weekly) • Rebates • Earned Income Credits (EIC) paid in lump sum or weekly • Employer new-hire sign-on bonus • U.S. military (re-)enlistment bonus • Insurance settlement • One-time distribution from an inherited IRA • Estate inheritances • Trust funds, if the payment is a non-recurring lump sum • Refunds of security deposits on rental property or utilities • Retroactive Social Security, Public Assistance, or unemployment compensation payments+