What is not income?

(a) Medical care and services. Medical care and services are not income if they are any of the following:

(1) Given to you free of charge or paid for directly to the provider by someone else;

(2) Room and board you receive during a medical confinement;

(3) Assistance provided in cash or in kind (including food or shelter) under a Federal, State, or local government program whose purpose is to provide medical care or medical services (including vocational rehabilitation);

(4) In-kind assistance (except shelter) provided under a nongovernmental program whose purpose is to provide medical care or medical services;

(5) Cash provided by any nongovernmental medical care or medical services program or under a health insurance policy (except cash to cover food or shelter) if the cash is either:

(i) Repayment for program-approved services you have already paid for; or

(ii) A payment restricted to the future purchase of a program-approved service.

Example:

If you have paid for prescription drugs and get the money back from your health insurance, the money is not income.

(6) Direct payment of your medical insurance premiums by anyone on your behalf.

(7) Payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs resulting from unusual medical expenses.

(b) Social services. Social services are not income if they are any of the following:

(1) Assistance provided in cash or in kind (but not received in return for a service you perform) under any Federal, State, or local government program whose purpose is to provide social services including vocational rehabilitation (Example: Cash given you by the Department of Veterans Affairs to purchase aid and attendance);

(2) In-kind assistance (except shelter) provided under a nongovernmental program whose purpose is to provide social services; or

(3) Cash provided by a nongovernmental social services program (except cash to cover food or shelter) if the cash is either:

(i) Repayment for program-approved services you already have paid for; or

(ii) A payment restricted to the future purchase of a program-approved service.

Example:

If you are unable to do your own household chores and a private social services agency provides you with cash to pay a homemaker the cash is not income.

(c) Receipts from the sale, exchange, or replacement of a resource. Receipts from the sale, exchange, or replacement of a resource are not income but are resources that have changed their form. This includes any cash or in-kind item that is provided to replace or repair a resource (see subpart L) that has been lost, damaged, or stolen. Sections 416.1150 and 416.1151 discuss treatment of receipts to replace or repair a resource following a major disaster or following some other event causing damage or loss of a resource.

Example:

If you sell your automobile, the money you receive is not income; it is another form of a resource.

(d) Income tax refunds. Any amount refunded on income taxes you have already paid is not income.

(e) Payments by credit life or credit disability insurance. Payments made under a credit life or credit disability insurance policy on your behalf are not income.

Example:

If a credit disability policy pays off the mortgage on your home after you become disabled in an accident, we do not consider either the payment or your increased equity in the home to be income.

(f) Proceeds of a loan. Money you borrow or money you receive as repayment of a loan is not income. However, interest you receive on money you have lent is income. Buying on credit is treated as though you were borrowing money and what you purchase this way is not income.

(g) Bills paid for you. Payment of your bills by someone else directly to the supplier is not income. However, we count the value of anything you receive because of the payment if it is in-kind income as defined in § 416.1102.

Examples: If your daughter uses her own money to pay your mortgage payment directly to the mortgage lender, the payment itself is not your income because you do not receive it. However, because of your daughter's payment, the transaction provides you with shelter; the mortgage payment is in-kind income for shelter to you. Similarly, if you book a hotel room on credit and your son later pays the bill, the payment to the hotel is not income to you, but the payment of the bill is in-kind income for shelter to you. In this example, if your son pays for the hotel bill in a month after the month of the hotel stay, we will count the in-kind income to you in the month in which he pays the bill. On the other hand, if your brother pays a lawn service to mow your grass, the payment is not income to you because the mowing cannot be used to meet your needs for food or shelter. Therefore, the payment for the lawn service is not in-kind income as defined in § 416.1102.

(h) Replacement of income you have already received. If income is lost, destroyed, or stolen and you receive a replacement, the replacement is not income.

Example:

If your paycheck is stolen and you get a replacement check, we count the first check as income. The replacement check is not income.

(i) Weatherization assistance. Weatherization assistance (Examples: Insulation, storm doors and windows) is not income.

(j) Receipt of certain noncash items. Any item you receive (except shelter as defined in § 416.1130) which would be an excluded nonliquid resource (as described in subpart L of this part) if you kept it, is not income.

Example 1: A community takes up a collection to buy you a specially equipped van, which is your only vehicle. The value of this gift is not income because the van does not provide you with food or shelter and will become an excluded nonliquid resource under § 416.1218 in the month following the month of receipt.

Example 2: You inherit a house which is your principal place of residence. The value of this inheritance is income because the house provides you with shelter and shelter is income. However, we value the house under the rule in § 416.1140.