An applicant's or recipient's gross countable monthly income
must be less than the maximum allowable monthly income standard. If an
applicant's or recipient's monthly gross countable income is below $50, the
application can still be processed; however, the applicant or the recipient
must be referred to the social security administration to apply for SSI. Income
may be in the form of cash, checks, and money orders, or in-kind, including
personal property or food. If income is not received in the form of cash, the
cash value of the item is determined and counted as income. The ISD worker
verifies all income and obtains appropriate documentation. Income is counted in
the month received. Income is considered available throughout the month
regardless of the date received.
A.
Types of income: Countable income is the sum of unearned income or
earned income, less disregards or exclusions, plus deemed income.
B.
Earned income: Earned income
consists of the total gross income received by an applicant or recipient for
services performed as an employee or as a result of self-employment.
(1) Royalties earned in connection with the
publication of an applicant's or recipient's work and any honorarium or fee
received for services rendered are considered earned income.
(2) The self-employed applicant or recipient
must provide an estimate of their current income based on the tax return filed
for the previous year or current records maintained in the regular course of
business. The estimate of net earnings for the entire previous taxable year is
prorated equally among all months of the current year, even if the business is
seasonal.
(a) Consideration is given to the
applicant's or recipient's explanation as to why they believe the estimated net
earnings for the current year vary substantially from the information shown on
their tax return for past years.
(b) A satisfactory explanation is that the
business suffered heavy loss or damage from fire, flood, burglary, serious
illness or disability of the owner, or other such catastrophic events.
Documentation must include copies of newspaper accounts or medical reports and
must be filed in the case record to substantiate the need for a reduced
estimate of current self-employment income.
C.
Unearned income: Unearned
income consists of all other income (minus exclusions and disregards) that is
not earned in the course of employment or self-employment.
D.
Deemed income: Deemed income
is income considered available to a minor applicant or recipient from their
parents.
E.
Community
property income methodology: If an applicant or recipient is married,
community property income methodology shall be used in the eligibility
determination, regardless of the living arrangements, if the one spouse has
less income than the other spouse or if using the community property
methodology would benefit both spouses. Under this methodology, one-half of the
community property income is attributed to each spouse. Income is considered
separate if it is earned in and is paid from a non-community property state.
Proof of separate income is the burden of the applicant or recipient, spouse,
or authorized representative.
