Countable Income

For SNAP purposes, countable income must be categorized as either earned or unearned. (A) Earned Income. (1) Wages. All wages and salaries paid to an employee are counted as earned income. (2) Self-employment. The total gross income from a self-employment enterprise, including the total gain from the sale of any capital goods or equipment related to the business, excluding the cost of doing business, is counted as earned income. Payments from roomers and boarders are classified as earned self-employment income. Income from rental property shall be considered earned self-employment income only if a household member actively engages in the management of the property an average of at least 20 hours per week. (B) Unearned Income. Unearned income is all income that is not earned through employment. This includes, but is not limited to, the following types of unearned income: (1) Assistance Payments. Income from public assistance programs, such as Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC), EmergencyAid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children (EAEDC) or other assistance programs based on need; (2) Pensions and Social Security. Annuities, pensions, retirement, veterans' or disability benefits, Workers' or Unemployment Compensation, Social Security(RSDI) and SSI benefits and strike benefits; (3) Foster Care Payments. Foster care payments when the foster care child or adult is included in the foster care household's SNAP household; (4) Support and Alimony. Support and alimony payments made directly to the household from nonhousehold members. Support and alimony payments of up to $50 per month received as a TAFDC-Related Benefit by a household with a TAFDC client; (5) Grants, Interest Payments, Dividends. Payments from government-sponsored programs such as the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service Programs, dividends, interest, royalties, and all other direct money payments from any source whatever which can be construed to be a gain or benefit; (6) Rental Income. Income from rental property shall be counted as unearned income unless a household member actively engages in the management of the property an average of at least 20 hours per week; (7) Trust Funds. Money withdrawn from trust funds that are excluded from assets under the provisions of 106 CMR 363.140(F) shall be considered income in the month received unless otherwise excluded under 106 CMR 363.230. Dividends from excluded trust funds, which the household has the option of either receiving as income or reinvesting in the trust, are to be considered income in the month they become available to the household, whether collected by the household or reinvested in the trust, unless otherwise excluded under 106 CMR 363.230; and (8) Deemed Sponsor Income for Sponsored Noncitizens. For households containing sponsored noncitizens, the income of the sponsor and the sponsor's spouse, if living with the sponsor, shall be deemed as unearned income to the household in accordance with 106 CMR 362.270: Deeming of Income and Assets for Sponsored Noncitizens. (C) Garnishments, Managed Income and Certain Vendor Payments. (1) Garnished Wages. Wages earned by a household member that are garnished or diverted by an employer, and paid to a third party for a household's expenses, such as rent, are considered earned income. However, if the employer pays a household's rent directly to the landlord in addition to paying the household its regular wages, this rent payment is excluded as a vendor payment. In addition, if the employer provides housing to an employee, the value of the housing is not countable as income. (2) Managed Income. All or part of a Public Assistance (PA) grant, which would normally be provided as money payment to the household, that is diverted to a third party or to a protective payee for the purpose of managing a household's expenses is counted as unearned income. However, payments by the Department that would not normally be provided in a money payment to the household, and that are over and above normal public assistance grants are excluded as a vendor payment if they are made directly to a third party for a household expense. 106 CMR 363.220(C)(2) applies even if the household has the option of receiving a direct cash payment. (3) Certain Vendor Payments. Monies that are legally obligated and otherwise payable to the household, but are diverted by the provider of the payment to a third party for household expenses, are counted as unearned income and not excluded as a vendor payment. The distinction is based on whether or not the person or organization making the payment on behalf of a household is using funds that otherwise are payable to the household. Funds include wages earned by a household member and owed to the household, a PA grant to which a household is legally entitled, and support or alimony payments in amounts that are legally obligated to a household member. Even if an employer, agency, or former spouse who owes these funds to a household diverts them to a third party to pay for a household expense, these payments are still counted as income to the household. However, if an employer, agency, former spouse or other person makes payments for household expenses to a third party from funds that are not legally obligated to the household, the payments are considered vendor payments and excluded from income. (4) Certain Recouped Monies. Monies withheld from a public assistance grant or repaid by the recipient to the public assistance program are considered countable unearned income if the following conditions apply: (a) the monies are voluntarily or involuntarily withheld or returned to repay a prior overpayment that was caused by the household's intentional failure to comply with the requirements of another federal or state means-tested program as defined in 106 CMR 360.030: Definitions; and (b) the overpayment is not considered excluded income as specified in 106 CMR 363.230. (5) Failure to Comply with Another Assistance Program's Requirements. The Department will not increase SNAP benefits when a household's benefits under another federal or state means-tested program as defined in 106 CMR 360.030: Definitions have been decreased (i.e., reduced or suspended, but not when a household's cash benefits are terminated) due to fraud or a failure to comply with a requirement of the program that imposed the benefit decrease subject to the following conditions: (a) The Department must make a good faith effort to obtain information regarding the failure to comply from the agency imposing the penalty; (b) The Department must adjust SNAP benefits when eligible members are added to the SNAP household regardless of whether or not the household is prohibited from receiving benefits for the additional member under another applicable public assistance program; and (c) The Department must adjust SNAP benefits as a result of changes in household circumstances not related to the penalty imposed by another applicable public assistance program. (6) Payments That Are Not Considered Income. The following payments are not income for SNAP purposes and should be disregarded when determining a household's eligibility and benefit level: (a) Child support payments made to TAFDC recipients that must be assigned to the Department by the recipient under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act (Child Support Enforcement) to maintain TAFDC eligibility; and (b) Monies withheld from a public assistance grant or repaid by the recipient to any income source or monies received from any income source if the following conditions apply: 1. the monies are voluntarily or involuntarily withheld from or returned to the income source to repay a prior overpayment that was caused by any reason other than the household intentionallyfailing to complywith the requirements of another federal or state needs-based welfare program, such as TAFDC, EAEDC or SSI; and 2. the overpayment is not considered excluded income as provided in 106 CMR 363.230.