106 CMR, § 363.230 - Excluded Income

The following kinds of income will be excluded when determining a household's eligibility and benefit level.

(A) In-kind Income and Cash Contributions. Any gain or benefit not in the form of money and provided directly to the household is excluded from income. For example, meals, clothing, public housing, or produce from a garden would be excluded from income.

Any cash contributions from a non-legally responsible person (i.e., someone without a court order or other binding agreement) that are restricted for a specific purpose and provide for a portion of any rent or mortgage, fuel, utilities and/or food or other needs are excluded from income.

(B) Vendor Payments. A vendor payment is a money payment that is paid to a third party for a household expense.

A vendor payment is excluded from income whenever a person or organization outside the household uses its own funds to make a direct payment to a household's creditors or to a person or organization providing a service to the household. The following are examples of excluded vendor payments:

(1) If a relative or friend who is not a household member pays the household's rent from his or her own funds directly to a landlord;

(2) Rent or mortgage payments made to landlords or mortgagees by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), or by state or local housing authorities on behalf of a household, including utility allowances paid under such programs;

(3) Payments made under the Emergency Assistance (EA) program;

(4) Payments for household expenses made to a third party and not legally owed to the household. The following are examples of such excluded vendor payments:

(a) If an employer pays an employee's rent directly to the landlord in addition to paying the employee his or her regular wages, the rent payment shall be considered an excluded vendor payment.

If the employer provides housing to an employee, the value of the housing shall also be an excluded vendor payment:

(b) Payments specified by a court order or other legally binding agreement to go directly to the third party rather than to the household shall be considered excluded vendor payments; and

(c) Support payments not required by a court order or other legally binding agreement (including payments in excess of an amount specified in a court order or legally binding agreement) that are paid to a third party rather than the household shall be considered excluded vendor payments.

(5) Payments made by a government agency to a child care provider for day care to a household member.

(6) Monies or payments that are not legally owed to the household under a court order or other legally binding agreement can qualify as excluded vendor payments if they are paid to the third party directly.

(C) Infrequent Irregular Incomes. Any income in the certification period that is received too infrequently or irregularly to be reasonably anticipated, and is less than $30 per recipient in a quarter.

(D) Educational Loans, Grants, and Scholarships. Any financial assistance paid to a student such as a financial aid package, grant, loan or scholarship for the purposes of obtaining a degree or certificate from an institution of higher education. Permissible purposes may include, without limitation, room and board, tuition and fees, and other ancillary costs associated with the costs of obtaining a degree or certificate at an institution of higher education.

(E) Other Loans. All loans, including loans from private individuals as well as commercial institutions, are excluded from income. This includes money received from a loan secured by the equity in the home of an individual who is 60 years of age or older, commonly known as a "reverse mortgage".

(F) Reimbursements.

(1) Definition of Excluded Reimbursements. Reimbursements, for past or future expenses, that are specifically designated and used for a specific purpose other than meeting normal living expenses (e.g., rent, personal clothing, or food eaten at home) are excluded so long as they do not exceed actual expenses or represent a gain or benefit to the household.

(2) Examples of Excluded Reimbursements.

(a) Reimbursements or flat allowances, including reimbursements made to the household under 106 CMR 362.310(D), for expenses while on the job or for job-related training are excluded. Such expenses may include, but are not limited to, travel, per diem, uniforms, and transportation to and from the job or training site that are provided over and above basic wages for these expenses. Reimbursements for the travel expenses of migrant workers are also excluded.

(b) Reimbursements to volunteers for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the course of their work.

(c) Reimbursements made to the household for expenses necessary for participation in a SNAP E&T component.

(d) Medical or dependent care reimbursements.

(e) Reimbursements received by assistance units to pay for services provided by Title XX of the Social Security Act are excluded, but Title XX reimbursements for normal living expenses are not excluded under 106 CMR 363.230(F)(2)(d).

(f) Any annual allowance earmarked by the Department for children's clothes is excluded, provided the Department does not reduce the monthly assistance grant for the month the school clothing allowance is issued.

(3) Reimbursements for Multiple Expenses. When a reimbursement, including a flat allowance, covers multiple expenses, expenses do not need to be separately identified as long as normal living expenses are not covered by the reimbursement.

(4) Reimbursements Exceeding Expenses. The amount by which a reimbursement exceeds the actual incurred expense shall be counted as income. However, reimbursements shall not be considered to exceed actual expenses, unless the provider or the household indicates the amount is excessive.

(G) Monies Received for Third Parties. Monies received and used for the care and maintenance of a third party beneficiary who is not a household member are excluded from income. If the intended beneficiaries of a single payment include both household and nonhousehold members, any identifiable portion of the payment intended and used for the care and maintenance of the nonhousehold member shall be excluded. If the nonhousehold member's portion cannot be readily identified, the payment shall be evenly prorated among intended beneficiaries and the exclusion applied to the nonhousehold member's pro rata share or the amount actually used for the nonhousehold member's care and maintenance, whichever is less.

(H) Earnings of Elementary or Secondary School Students. Earned income of a student younger than 18 years old who attends elementary or secondary school or classes to obtain a High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) at least half-time and lives with a natural, adoptive or step-parent, is under the parental control of an adult household member other than a parent, or is certified in a separate SNAP household but lives with a natural, adoptive or step-parent is excluded. This exclusion continues during temporary interruptions in school attendance due to semester or vacation breaks, if the student's enrollment will resume following the break. If the student's earnings or the amount of work performed cannot be differentiated from that of the other household members, the total earnings shall be prorated equally among the working members and the student's pro rata share excluded.

(I) Nonrecurring Lump Sum Payments. Money received in the form of nonrecurring lump sum payments is noncountable income. For example, tax refunds, rebates or credits, retroactive lump sum Social Security or SSI benefits, PA payments, Railroad Retirement benefits, retroactive lump sum insurance settlements, refunds of security deposits on rental property and utilities are noncountable income. These payments shall be counted as an asset in the month received unless noncountable in accordance with 106 CMR 363.140.

(J) The Cost of Producing Self-employment Income. The cost of producing self-employment income is excluded from income in accordance with 106 CMR 365.900 through 365.970.

(K) Income Excluded by Law. Certain income is excluded for SNAP purposes by specific provisions in federal law. The following listing of excludable income includes, but is not limited to:

(1) Highway Relocation assistance payments, Urban Renewal Assistance payments, disaster relief payments used for relocation, and payments from private agencies used for relocation;

(2) The tax-exempt portions of payments made under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act;

(3) Funds distributed to or held in trust for members of any Indian tribe pursuant to a judgment of the Indian Claims Settlements or the Secretary of the Interior;

(4) Payments to Native Americans under Public Laws 92-254, 93-134, 94-114, 94-540, 96-420, 97- 458, 98-64 and 102-71, including interest income from these payments;

(5) Payments or reimbursements given to, volunteers serving as foster grandparents, senior health aides, senior companions, or serving in the Service Corps of Retired Executives, in VISTA, or in any other program established under the Domestic Service Act of 1973;

(6) Youthbuild or Americorps allowances, earnings or payments to individuals participating in those programs;

(7) Payments of state or federal earned income credits (EIC) whether received as advance payments of earned income credits or as part or all of an income tax refund;

(8) Energy assistance payments or allowances as described below:

(a) Any payments or allowances made for the purpose of providing energy assistance under any federal law (other than Part A of Title IV of the Social Security Act (42 USC 601, et seq.)), or

(b) A one-time payment or allowance made under a 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;

(9) Funds received by individuals under the Older American Community Service Employment Program pursuant to the Older Americans Act Amendments of 1987, Public Law 100-175;

(10) Cash donations based on need that are received from one or more private nonprofit charitable organizations, not in excess of $300 aggregate per quarter, pursuant to the Charitable Assistance and Food Bank Act of 1987, Public Law 100-232;

(11) Payments for eligible individuals of Japanese ancestry or their survivors under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, and payments up to $12,000 per person for eligible Aleuts (who were former residents of the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands) or their survivors under the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Act, Public Law 100-383;

(12) Agent Orange Settlement Fund payments made to Vietnam veterans or their survivors, in accordance with Public Law 101-201, effective January 1, 1989;

(13) Payments made to individuals because of their status as victims of Nazi persecution in accordance with Public Law 103-286;

(14) Payments (from $200 through $1200 per month) to the child of a Vietnam veteran disabled in any way by spina bifida;

(15) Payments made under P.L. 101-426, Section 6(h)(2), the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act;

(16) The value of assistance received under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the National School Lunch Act;

(17) Any amount of basic pay that is reduced under the Veterans Benefits Improvement and Health Care Authorization Act shall revert to the Treasury and not be considered to be received by or in control of such individual;

(18) Coupons under a WIC Demonstration Project that can be exchanged for food at farmers' markets;

(19) No service provided to a public housing resident under the Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act;

(20) Crime victim compensation payments under the Crime Act of 1984;

(21) The value of any child care provided under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act;

(22) The amount of home energy assistance payments or allowances under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act;

(23) Payments precipitated by an emergency or major disaster under the Disaster Relief and Energy Assistance Amendments of 1988;

(24) The value of the Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card Program subsidy authorized by the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003;

(25) Additional income received by a member of the Armed Forces deployed to a combat zone, in accordance with Public Law 108-447; and

(26) Employment income received from a National Emergency Grant as part of the Workforce Investment Act, in accordance with Public Law 105-220, and disaster unemployment assistance in accordance with Public Law 100-707.

(L) Income of Nonhousehold Members. The income of a nonhousehold member shall be excluded when determining the eligibility of the remaining household members, except when the nonhousehold member has been disqualified in accordance with 106 CMR 361.230: Nonhousehold Members. The income of a disqualified nonhousehold member must be considered in accordance with 106 CMR 365.520: Disqualified Non-household Members.

(M) Training Stipends and Training-Related Expenses. Training stipends including, but not limited to, payments from the Department of Career Services (DCS), or the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC), or nonprofit organizations that support job readiness. Reimbursement payments for education and/or training-related expenses received from participation in the Pathways to Work Program, or from other agencies and organizations that are nonduplicative of Transitional Cash Assistance payments and are provided for specific goods or services. Such payments include, but are not limited to, those provided for transportation allowances, child care costs, and the costs of books, supplies or uniforms.

(N) Income of SSI Recipients and PASS Funds. Income of an SSI recipient necessary for the fulfillment of a Plan for Achieving Self Support (PASS) is excluded from income.

The PASS program allows persons who receive or who might qualify to receive SSI benefits to develop a plan in which the goal is to become employed. The PASS must be approved by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to permit the individual to set aside a specified amount of money to be used or deposited into a special bank account for future use.

These specified funds are to be used to achieve the work goal stated in the approved PASS and shall be excluded from income in determining SNAP eligibility and benefit level.

PASS funds may include, but are not limited to, earned income or unearned income, or funds from an insurance settlement. SSI benefits are not used as PASS funds and, therefore, are still considered countable income for SNAP purposes.

Exclusion of PASS funds from income for SNAP purposes is verified by a copy of the PASS agreement and the PASS approval letter from the SSA.

PASS funds are not counted as assets because the assets of a household member who receives SSI are excluded for SNAP purposes, in accordance with 106 CMR 363.140(H)(7).

(O) Legally Obligated Child Support Payments. Legally obligated child support payments paid by a household member for a nonhousehold member, which are verified in accordance with 106 CMR 361.610(J): Legal Obligation and Actual Child Support Payment, are excluded from income for the purpose of applying the appropriate gross income test.

Notes

106 CMR, § 363.230

Amended by Mass Register Issue 1330, eff. 1/13/2017. Amended by Mass Register Issue 1522, eff. 5/24/2024.