2009 Annual Report of the SSI Program

 

B. INCOME AND RESOURCE EXCLUSIONS

1. Earned Income Exclusions

•	Any refund of Federal income taxes received under section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code (relating to earned income tax credit) and any payment received under section 3507 of the Internal Revenue Code (relating to advance payment of earned income tax credit);

•	Rebate payment received under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, and any other credit or refund under section 6428 of the Internal Revenue Code;

•	Amounts received pursuant to the Making Work Pay tax credit set forth in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009;

•	Any refundable child tax credit;

•

The first $30 of earned income in a quarter if it is infrequent or irregular, that is, (1) if it is received only once in a calendar quarter from a single source and is not also received in the month immediately preceding or the month immediately following the month of receipt regardless of whether or not these payments occur in different calendar quarters or (2) if its receipt cannot reasonably be expected;

•	Up to $1,6401 per month but not more than $6,600 in a calendar year received by a blind or disabled recipient who is a working student under age 22 and regularly attending school;

•	Any portion of the monthly $20 exclusion for unearned income that has not been used;

•	$65 of earned income in a month;

•	Amounts used to pay impairment-related work expenses if a recipient is disabled (but not blind) and under age 65 or is disabled (but not blind) and receiving SSI (or disability payments under a former State plan) before age 652;

•	One-half of remaining earned income in a month;

•	Earned income used to meet any expenses reasonably attributable to the earning of the income if the recipient is blind and under age 65 or if he/she received SSI as a blind person prior to age 65 2;

•	Any earned income received and used to fulfill an approved plan to achieve self-support if the recipi­ent is blind or disabled and under age 65 or is blind or disabled and received SSI as a blind or disabled individual in the month before he/she attained age 65;

•	Cash or in-kind income provided under an AmeriCorps program;

•	Any earned income deposited into either a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Assets for Independence Act individual development account (IDA); and

•

Some Federal laws other than the Social Security Act provide for the exclusion of earned income for SSI purposes. For the most part, the income received under these laws relates to assistance received in the form of food, housing and utilities, educational and employment benefits or benefits derived from being a member of a Native American tribe. A complete list of laws which exclude earned income under SSI can be found in the Federal Regulations Appendix to Subpart K 20 CFR 416.

2. Unearned Income Exclusions

•	Any public agency’s refund of taxes on real property or food;

•	Assistance based on need which is wholly funded by a State or one of its political subdivisions. This includes State supplementation of Federal SSI benefits but does not include payments under a Fed­eral/State grant program such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF);

•	Any portion of a grant, scholarship, fellowship, or gift to an individual used for paying tuition, fees or other necessary educational expenses. Portions set aside for food or shelter are counted;

•	Food raised by a household if it is consumed by that household;

•	Assistance received under the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and assistance provided under any Federal statute because of a catastrophe which the President of the United States declares to be a major disaster;

•	Assistance received under a program for flood mitigation activities;

•

The first $60 of unearned income in a quarter if it is infrequent or irregular, that is, (1) if it is received only once in a calendar quarter from a single source and is not also received in the month immediately preceding or the month immediately following the month of receipt regardless of whether or not these payments occur in different calendar quarters or (2) if its receipt cannot reasonably be expected;

•	Any unearned income received and used to fulfill an approved plan to achieve self-support if the recipient is blind or disabled and under age 65 or is blind or disabled and received SSI as a blind or disabled individual in the month before he/she attained age 65;

•	Periodic payments made by a State under a program established before July 1, 1973, and based solely on the recipient’s length of residence and attainment of age 65;

•	Payments for providing foster care to an ineligible child who was placed in the recipient’s home by a public or private nonprofit child placement or child care agency;

•	Any interest earned on excluded burial funds and any appreciation in the value of an excluded burial arrangement which are left to accumulate and become part of the separately identifiable burial fund;

•	Certain support and maintenance assistance provided in the form of home energy assistance;

•	One-third of support payments made by an absent parent if the recipient is a child;

•	The first $20 of unearned income in a month other than income in the form of in-kind support and maintenance received in the household of another and income based on need;

•	The value of any assistance paid with respect to a dwelling unit under the United States Housing Act of 1937, the National Housing Act, section 101 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965, title V of the Housing Act of 1949, or section 202(h) of the Housing Act of 1959;

•	Any interest accrued on and left to accumulate as part of the value of an excluded burial space pur­chase agreement (effective April 1, 1990) and any interest earned on the value of nonexcludable burial funds and burial space purchase agreements is excluded from income (effective July 1, 2004);

•	The value of any commercial transportation ticket, for travel by a recipient or his/her spouse among the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands, which is received as a gift and is not converted to cash;

•	Payments received from a fund established by a State to aid victims of crime;

•	Payments received from State-provided pensions to aged, blind, or disabled veterans (or their spouses);

•	Relocation assistance provided by a State or local government that is comparable to assistance pro­vided under title II of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970;

•	Hostile fire pay received from one of the uniformed services pursuant to 37 U.S.C. 310 and other kinds of additional pay received by military personnel in a combat zone;

•	Interest or other earnings on a dedicated account excluded from resources;

•	In-kind gifts not converted to cash and the first $2,000 annually of cash gifts made by tax-exempt organizations, such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, to, or for the benefit of, individuals under age 18 with life-threatening conditions;

•	Payments made under the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1998;

•	TANF funds made available to an SSI recipient as part of an individual development account (IDA);

•	One-time economic recovery payment received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009;

•	Deposits made by a participating individual or a sponsoring nonprofit organization or State or local government into an IDA under the Assets for Independence Act IDA demonstration project and inter­est earned on these deposits;

•	Unearned income excluded by other Federal laws. See Federal Regulations Appendix to Subpart K 20 CFR 416; and

•	Generally, all interest and dividend income earned on countable resources.

3. Resource Exclusions

•	The home in which an individual has ownership interest and which serves as the individual’s principal place of residence (including the land appertaining thereto);

•	Household goods and personal effects;

•	One automobile if used for transportation for the beneficiary or a member of the beneficiary’s house­hold;

•	Property used in a trade or business which is essential to self-support;

•	Up to $6,000 of nonbusiness property which is essential to self-support;

•	Resources of a blind or disabled individual which are necessary to fulfill an approved plan to achieve self-support;

•	Stock in regional or village corporations held by natives of Alaska during the 20-year period in which the stock is inalienable pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act;

•	Life insurance owned by an individual (and spouse, if any) provided that all life insurance on any per­son does not exceed a face value of $1,500;

•	Restricted allotted Indian lands;

•	Disaster relief assistance;

•	Assistance received under a program for flood mitigation activities;

•	Burial spaces and certain funds up to $1,500 for burial expenses;

•	Title XVI or title II retroactive payments (for 9 months following the month of receipt);

•	Housing assistance;

•	Refunds of Federal income taxes and advances made by an employer relating to an earned income tax credit (for 9 months following the month of receipt);

•	Rebate payment received under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, and any other credit or refund under section 6428 of the Internal Revenue Code, during the month of receipt or the following 2 months;

•	One-time economic recovery payment received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, for the month of receipt and the following 9 months;

•	Amounts received pursuant to the Making Work Pay tax credit set forth in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, for the month of receipt and the following 2 months.

•	Refundable child tax credit (for 9 months following the month of receipt);

•	Grants, scholarships, fellowships or gifts to be used for tuition or educational fees (for 9 months fol­lowing the month of receipt);

•	Payments received as compensation for expenses incurred or losses suffered as a result of a crime (for 9 months following the month of receipt);

•	Relocation assistance from a State or local government (for 9 months following the month of receipt);

•	Payments made from State-provided pensions to aged, blind, or disabled veterans (or their spouses);

•	Dedicated financial institution accounts for disabled children;

•	In-kind gifts not converted to cash and the first $2,000 annually of cash gifts made by tax-exempt organizations, such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, to, or for the benefit of, individuals under age 18 with life-threatening conditions;

•	Payments made under the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1998;

•	Amounts deposited into either a TANF or Assets for Independence Act IDA, including matching funds and interest earned on such amounts;

•	Certain trusts (e.g., those established by will or certain Medicaid trusts that will repay the State, upon the death of the beneficiary, for the costs of medical assistance provided to that individual); and

•	Payments or benefits provided under a Federal statute other than title XVI of the Social Security Act where exclusion is provided by such statute.

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1

Increased from $1,550 and $6,240, respectively, effective January 1, 2009 (73 FR 64651). Under current regulations this exclusion is increased yearly based on changes in the cost of living.

2

Amounts used to pay impairment-related work expenses are deducted before the one-half of earned income deduction, whereas amounts used to pay the work expenses of the blind are deducted after the one-half of earned income deduction. In effect, amounts of blind work expenses reduce SSI earned income twice as much as the same amounts of impairment-related work expenses.