AUTHORITY:
Secs. 702(a)(5), 1602, 1611, 1612, 1613, 1614(f), 1621, and 1631 of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 902(a)(5), 1381a, 1382, 1382a, 1382b, 1382c(f), 1382j,
and 1383); sec. 211, Pub. L. 93-66, 87 Stat. 154 (42 U.S.C. 1382 note).
SOURCE: 45 FR
65547, Oct. 3, 1980, unless otherwise noted.
You are eligible for supplemental
security income (SSI) benefits if you are an aged, blind, or disabled person
who meets the requirements described in subpart B and who has limited income
and resources. Thus, the amount of income you have is a major factor in
deciding whether you are eligible for SSI benefits and the amount of your
benefit. We count income on a monthly basis. Generally, the more income you
have the less your benefit will be. If you have too much income, you are not
eligible for a benefit. However, we do not count all of your income to
determine your eligibility and benefit amount. We explain in the following
sections how we treat your income for the SSI program. These rules apply to the
Federal benefit and to any optional State supplement paid by us on behalf of a
State (§416.2025)
except as noted in subpart T and in the Federal-State agreements with
individual States. While this subpart explains how we count income, subpart D
of these regulations explains how we determine your benefits, including the
provision that we generally use countable income in a prior month to determine
how much your benefit amount will be for a month in which you are eligible (§416.420).
[50 FR
48573, Nov. 26, 1985]
As used in this subpart—
Calendar quarter means a period of three full calendar months beginning with
January, April, July, or October.
Child means someone who is not married, is not the head of a household,
and is either under age 18 or is under age 22 and a student. (See §416.1856)
Couple means an eligible individual and his or her eligible spouse.
Current market value means the price of an item on the open market in your locality.
Federal benefit rate means the monthly payment rate for an eligible individual or
couple. It is the figure from which we substract countable income to find out
how much your Federal SSI benefit should be. The Federal benefit rate does not
include the rate for any State supplement paid by us on behalf of a State.
Institution means an establishment which makes available some treatment or
services beyond food and shelter to four or more persons who are not related to
the proprietor. (See §416.201)
Spouse means someone who lives with another person as that person's
husband or wife. (See §416.1806)
We, Us, or Our means the Social Security Administration.
You or Your means a person who is applying for, or already
receiving, SSI benefits.
[45 FR
65547, Oct. 3, 1980, as amended at 50 FR 48573, Nov. 26, 1985; 51 FR 10616,
Mar. 28, 1986; 60 FR 16375, Mar. 30, 1995]
Income is anything you receive in
cash or in kind that you can use to meet your needs for food, clothing, and
shelter. Sometimes income also includes more or less than you actually receive
(see §416.1110
and §416.1123(b)).
In-kind income is not cash, but is actually food, clothing, or shelter, or
something you can use to get one of these.
Some things you receive are not
income because you cannot use them as food, clothing, or shelter, or use them
to obtain food, clothing, or shelter. In addition, what you receive from the
sale or exchange of your own property is not income; it remains a resource. The
following are some items that are 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, clothing, or shelter) under a Federal, State, or local
government program, whose purpose is to provide medical care or services
(including vocational rehabilitation);
(4) In-kind assistance (except food,
clothing, or 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, clothing, 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 food,
clothing, or 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, clothing,
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 the grocer to provide
you with food, the payment itself is not your income because you do not receive
it. However, because of your daughter's payment, the grocer provides you with
food; the food is in-kind income to you. Similarly, if you buy clothing on
credit and your son later pays the bill, the payment to the store is not income
to you but the clothing is in-kind income to you. In this example, if your son
pays for the clothing in a quarter after the quarter of purchase, we will count
the in-kind income to you in the quarter 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, clothing, or shelter. Therefore, it 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, food,
or clothing) 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, clothing, 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.
[45 FR
65547, Oct. 3, 1980, as amended at 49 FR 48038, Dec. 10, 1984; 57 FR 53850,
Nov. 13, 1992; 59 FR 33907, July 1, 1994]
We have described generally what
income is and is not for SSI purposes (§416.1103). There
are different types of income, earned and unearned, and we have rules for
counting each. The earned income rules are described in §§416.1110 through
416.1112 and
the unearned income rules are described in §§416.1120 through
416.1124. One
type of unearned income is in-kind support and maintenance (food, clothing, or
shelter). The way we value it depends on your living arrangement. These rules
are described in §§416.1130
through 416.1148
of this part. In some situations we must consider the income of certain people
with whom you live as available to you and part of your income. These rules are
described in §§416.1160
through 416.1169.
We use all of these rules to determine the amount of your countable income—the
amount that is left after we subtract what is not income or is not counted.
[45 FR
65547, Oct. 3, 1980, as amended at 65 FR 16815, Mar. 30, 2000]
Earned income may be in cash or in
kind. We may include more of your earned income than you actually receive. We
include more than you actually receive if amounts are withheld from earned
income because of a garnishment or to pay a debt or other legal obligation, or
to make any other payments. Earned income consists of the following types of
payments:
(a) Wages. Wages are what you
receive (before any deductions) for working as someone else's employee. Wages
are the same for SSI purposes as for the earnings test in the social security
retirement program. (See §404.429(c) of
this chapter.) Wages include salaries, commissions, bonuses, severance pay, and
any other special payments received because of your employment. They may also
include the value of food, clothing, or shelter, or other items provided
instead of cash. We refer to this as in-kind earned income. However, if you are
a domestic or agricultural worker, the law requires us to treat your in-kind
pay as unearned income.
(b) Net earnings from
self-employment. Net earnings from self-employment are your gross income
from any trade or business that you operate, less allowable deductions for that
trade or business. Net earnings also include your share of profit or loss in
any partnership to which you belong. These are the same net earnings that we
would count under the social security retirement insurance program and that you
would report on your Federal income tax return. (See §404.1080 of this
chapter.)
(c) Refunds of Federal income
taxes and advance payments by employers made in accordance with the earned
income credit provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Refunds on account
of earned income credits are payments made to you under the provisions of
section 43 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended. These refunds
may be greater than taxes you have paid. You may receive earned income tax
credit payments along with any other Federal income tax refund you receive
because of overpayment of your income tax, (Federal income tax refunds made on
the basis of taxes you have already paid are not income to you as stated in §416.1103(d).)
Advance payments of earned income tax credits are made by your employer under
the provisions of section 3507 of the same code. You can receive earned income
tax credit payments only if you meet certain requirements of family composition
and income limits.
(d) Payments for services
performed in a sheltered workshop or work activities center. Payments for
services performed in a sheltered workshop or work activities center are what
you receive for participating in a program designed to help you become
self-supporting.
(e) Certain royalties and
honoraria. Royalties that are earned income are payments to an individual
in connection with any publication of the work of the individual. (See §416.1110(b) if
you receive a royalty as part of your trade or business. See §416.1121(c) if
you receive another type of royalty.) Honoraria that are earned income are
those portions of payments, such as an honorary payment, reward, or donation,
received in consideration of services rendered for which no payment can be
enforced by law. (See §416.1120 if you
receive another type of honorarium.)
[45 FR
65547, Oct. 3, 1980, as amended at 48 FR 23179, May 24, 1983; 50 FR 48574, Nov.
26, 1985; 56 FR 3212, Jan. 29, 1991; 59 FR 43471, Aug. 24, 1994]
(a) Wages. We count wages at
the earliest of the following points: when you receive them or when they are
credited to your account or set aside for your use. We determine wages for each
month.
(b) Net earnings from
self-employment. We count net earnings from self-employment on a taxable
year basis. However, we divide the total of these earnings equally among the
months in the taxable year to get your earnings for each month. For example, if
your net earnings for a taxable year are $2,400, we consider that you received
$200 in each month. If you have net losses from self-employment, we divide them
over the taxable year in the same way, and we deduct them only from your other
earned income.
(c) Payments for services in a
sheltered workshop or activities center. We count payments you receive for
services performed in a sheltered workshop or work activities center when you
receive them or when they are set aside for your use. We determine the amount
of the payments for each calendar quarter.
(d) In-kind earned income. We
use the current market value of in-kind earned income for SSI purposes. (See §416.1101 for a
definition of current market value.) If you receive an item that is not fully
paid for and are responsible for the unpaid balance, only the paid-up value is
income to you. (See the example in §416.1123(c)).
(e) Royalties and honoraria.
We count payments of royalties to you in connection with any publication of
your work, and honoraria, to the extent received for services rendered, at the
earliest of the following points: when you receive them, when they are credited
to your account, or when they are set aside for your use. (See §416.1111(b) if
you receive royalties as part of your trade or business.)
[45 FR
65547, Oct. 3, 1980, as amended at 48 FR 23179, May 24, 1983; 48 FR 30357, July
1, 1983; 50 FR 48574, Nov. 26, 1985; 58 FR 63889, Dec. 3, 1993; 59 FR 43471,
Aug. 24, 1994]
(a) General. While we must
know the source and amount of all of your earned income for SSI, we do not
count all of it to determine your eligibility and benefit amount. We first
exclude income as authorized by other Federal laws (see paragraph (b) of this
section). Then we apply the other exclusions in the order listed in paragraph
(c) of this section to the rest of your income in the month. We never reduce
your earned income below zero or apply any unused earned income exclusion to
unearned income.
(b) Other Federal laws. Some
Federal laws other than the Social Security Act provide that we cannot count
some of your earned income for SSI purposes. We list the laws and exclusions in
the appendix to this subpart which we update periodically.
(c) Other earned income we do not
count. We do not count as earned income—
(1) Any refund of Federal income
taxes you receive under section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code (relating to
earned income tax credit) and any payment you receive from an employer under
section 3507 of the Internal Revenue Code (relating to advance payment of
earned income tax credit);
(2) Up to $10 of earned income in a
month if it is infrequent or irregular; that is, if you receive it only once in
a calendar quarter from a single source or if you cannot reasonably expect it.
If the total amount of your infrequent or irregular earned income for a month
exceeds $10, we cannot use this exclusion;
(3) If you are a blind or disabled
child who is a student regularly attending school as described in §416.1861:
(i) For earned income beginning
January 1, 2002, monthly and yearly maximum amounts that are the larger of:
(A) The monthly and yearly amounts
for the previous year, or
(B) Monthly and yearly maximum
amounts increased for changes in the cost-of-living, calculated in the same
manner as the Federal benefit rates described in §416.405, except
that we will use the calendar year 2001 amounts as the base amounts and will
round the resulting amount to the next higher multiple of $10 where such amount
is a multiple of $5 but not of $10 and to the nearest multiple of $10 in any
other case.
(ii) For earned income before
January 1, 2002, the amounts indicated in Table 1 of this section.
|
Table 1 |
||
|
For months |
Up to per
month |
But not more
than in a calendar year |
|
In calendar years before 2001 |
$400 |
$1,620 |
|
In calendar year 2001 |
1,290 |
5,200 |
(4) Any portion of the $20 monthly
exclusion in §416.1124(c)(10)
which has not been excluded from your unearned income in that same month;
(5) $65 of earned income in a month;
(6) Earned income you use to pay
impairment-related work expenses described in §416.976, if you
are disabled (but not blind) and under age 65 or you are disabled (but not
blind) and received SSI as a disabled individual (or received disability
payments under a former State plan) for the month before you reached age 65.
(i) For periods prior to December 1,
1990, you must be able, however, to establish your initial eligibility for
Federal benefits without the use of the impairment-related work expense
exclusion. Once you establish your initial eligibility without the use of the
impairment-related work expense exclusion, the exclusion applies for
determining your eligibility for all subsequent consecutive months for which
you are eligible for regular SSI benefits, federally administered optional
State supplementary payments, special SSI cash benefits or special SSI
eligibility status. If, in a subsequent month, you are not eligible for any of
these benefits, you cannot reestablish your eligibility for Federal SSI
benefits or federally administered optional State supplementary payments before
December 1, 1990, using the impairment-related work expense exclusion.
(ii) For periods after November 30,
1990, you may also use the impairment-related work expense exclusion to
establish initial eligibility and reeligibility following a month in which you
were not eligible for regular SSI benefits, a federally administered optional
State supplementary payment, special SSI cash benefits or special SSI
eligibility status.
(7) One-half of remaining earned
income in a month;
(8) Earned income used to meet any
expenses reasonably attributable to the earning of the income if you are blind
and under age 65 or if you receive SSI as a blind person for the month before
you reach age 65. (We consider that you "reach" a certain age on the
day before that particular birthday.); and
(9) Any earned income you receive
and use to fulfill an approved plan to achieve self-support if you are blind or
disabled and under age 65 or blind or disabled and received SSI as a blind or
disabled person for the month before you reached age 65. See §§416.1180 through
416.1182 for an
explanation of plans to achieve self-support and for the rules on when this
exclusion applies.
[45 FR
65547, Oct. 3, 1980, as amended at 48 FR 21943, May 16, 1983; 50 FR 48574, Nov.
26, 1985; 58 FR 63889, Dec. 3, 1993; 59 FR 41405, Aug. 12, 1994; 65 FR 82912,
Dec. 29, 2000]
Unearned income is all income that
is not earned income. We describe some of the types of unearned income in §416.1121. We
consider all of these items as unearned income, whether you receive them in
cash or in kind.
Some types of unearned income are—
(a) Annuities, pensions, and
other periodic payments. This unearned income is usually related to prior
work or service. It includes, for example, private pensions, social security
benefits, disability benefits, veterans benefits, worker's compensation,
railroad retirement annuities and unemployment insurance benefits.
(b) Alimony and support payments.
For SSI purposes, alimony and support payments are cash or in-kind
contributions to meet some or all of a person's needs for food, clothing, or
shelter. Support payments may be made voluntarily or because of a court order.
Alimony (sometimes called maintenance) is an allowance made by a court
from the funds of one spouse to the other spouse in connection with a suit for
separation or divorce.
(c) Dividends, interest, and
certain royalties. Dividends and interest are returns on capital
investments, such as stocks, bonds, or savings accounts. Royalties are
compensation paid to the owner for the use of property, usually copyrighted
material or natural resources such as mines, oil wells, or timber tracts.
Royalty compensation may be expressed as a percentage of receipts from using
the property or as an amount per unit produced. (See §416.1110(b) if
you receive royalties as part of your trade or business and §416.1110(e) if
you receive royalties in connection with the publication of your work.)
(d) Rents. Rents are payments
you receive for the use of real or personal property such as land, housing, or
machinery. We deduct from rental payments your ordinary and necessary expenses
in the same taxable year. These include only those expenses necessary for the
production or collection of the rental income and they must be deducted when
paid, not when they are incurred. Some examples of deductible expenses are
interest on debts, State and local taxes on real and personal property and on
motor fuels, general sales taxes, and expenses of managing or maintaining the
property. (Sections 163, 164, and 212 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 and
related regulations explain this in more detail.) We do not consider
depreciation or depletion of property a deductible expense. (See §416.1110(b) for
rules on rental income that is earned from self-employment. For example, you
may be in the business of renting properties.)
(e) Death benefits. We count
payments you get which were occasioned by the death of another person except
for the amount of such payments that you spend on the deceased person's last
illness and burial expenses. Last illness and burial expenses include related
hospital and medical expenses, funeral, burial plot and interment expenses, and
other related costs.
Example: If you receive $2,000 from your uncle's life insurance policy and
you spend $900 on his last illness and burial expenses, the balance, $1,100, is
unearned income. If you spend the entire $2,000 for the last illness and
burial, there is no unearned income.
(f) Prizes and awards. A
prize is generally something you win in a contest, lottery or game of chance.
An award is usually something you receive as the result of a decision by a
court, board of arbitration, or the like.
(g) Gifts and inheritances. A
gift is something you receive which is not repayment to you for goods or
services you provided and which is not given to you because of a legal
obligation on the giver's part. An inheritance is something that comes to you
as a result of someone's death. It can be in cash or in kind, including any
right in real or personal property. Gifts and inheritances occasioned by the
death of another person, to the extent that they are used to pay the expenses
of the deceased's last illness and burial, as defined in paragraph (e) of this
section, are not considered income.
(h) Support and maintenance in
kind. This is food, clothing, or shelter furnished to you. Our rules for
valuing this income depend on your living arrangement. We use one rule if you
are living in the household of a person who provides you with both food and
shelter. We use different rules for other situations where you receive food,
clothing, or shelter. We discuss all of the rules in §§416.1130 through
416.1147.
[45 FR
65547, Oct. 3, 1980, as amended at 56 FR 36000, July 30, 1991; 59 FR 43471,
Aug. 24, 1994]
(a) When we count unearned
income. We count unearned income at the earliest of the following points:
When you receive it or when it is credited to your account or set aside for
your use. We determine your unearned income for each month. We describe an
exception to the rule on how we count unearned income in paragraph (d) of this
section.
(b) Amount considered as income.
We may include more or less of your unearned income than you actually receive.
(1) We include more than you actually
receive where another benefit payment (such as a social security insurance
benefit) (see §416.1121)
has been reduced to recover a previous overpayment. You are repaying a legal
obligation through the withholding of portions of your benefit amount, and the
amount of the debt reduction is also part of your unearned income. Exception:
We do not include more than you actually receive if you received both SSI
benefits and the other benefit at the time the overpayment of the other benefit
occurred and the overpaid amount was included in figuring your SSI benefit at
that time.
Example: Joe, an SSI beneficiary, is also entitled to social security
insurance benefits in the amount of $200 per month. However, because of a prior
overpayment of his social security insurance benefits, $20 per month is being
withheld to recover the overpayment. In figuring the amount of his SSI
benefits, the full monthly social security insurance benefit of $200 is included
in Joe's unearned income. However, if Joe was receiving both benefits when the
overpayment of the social security insurance benefit occurred and we then
included the overpaid amount as income, we will compute his SSI benefit on the
basis of receiving $180 as a social security insurance benefit. This is because
we recognize that we computed his SSI benefit on the basis of the higher amount
when he was overpaid.
(2) We also include more than you
actually receive if amounts are withheld from unearned income because of a
garnishment, or to pay a debt or other legal obligaton, or to make any other
payment such as payment of your Medicare premiums.
(3) We include less than you
actually receive if part of the payment is for an expense you had in getting
the payment. For example, if you are paid for damages you receive in an
accident, we subtract from the amount of the payment your medical, legal, or
other expenses connected with the accident. If you receive a retroactive check
from a benefit program other than SSI, legal fees connected with the claim are
subtracted. We do not subtract from any taxable unearned income the part you
have to use to pay personal income taxes. The payment of taxes is not an
expense you have in getting income.
(4) In certain situations, we may
consider someone else's income to be available to you, whether or not it
actually is. (For the rules on this process, called deeming, see §§416.1160 through
416.1169.)
(c) In-kind income. We use
the current market value (defined in §416.1101) of
in-kind unearned income to determine its value for SSI purposes. We describe
some exceptions to this rule in §§416.1131 through
416.1147. If
you receive an item that is not fully paid for and are responsible for the
balance, only the paid-up value is income to you.
Example: You are given a $1500 automobile but must pay the $1000 due on
it. You are receiving income of $500.
(d) Retroactive monthly social
security benefits. We count retroactive monthly social security benefits
according to the rule in paragraph (d)(1) of this section, unless the exception
in paragraph (d)(2) of this section applies:
(1) Periods for which SSI
payments have been made. When you file an application for social security
benefits and retroactive monthly social security benefits are payable on that
application for a period for which you also received SSI payments (including
federally-administered State supplementary payments), we count your retroactive
monthly social security benefits as unearned income received in that period.
Rather than reducing your SSI payments in months prior to your receipt of a
retroactive monthly social security benefit, we will reduce the retroactive
social security benefits by an amount equal to the amount of SSI payments
(including federally-administered State supplementary payments) that we would
not have paid to you if your social security benefits had been paid when
regularly due rather than retroactively (see §404.408b(b)). If
a balance is due you from your retroactive social security benefits after this
reduction, for SSI purposes we will not count the balance as unearned income in
a subsequent month in which you receive it. This is because your social
security benefits were used to determine the amount of the reduction. This
exception to the unearned income counting rule does not apply to any monthly
social security benefits for a period for which you did not receive SSI.
(2) Social security disability
benefits where drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material
to the determination of disability. If your retroactive social security
benefits must be paid in installments because of the limitations on paying lump
sum retroactive benefits to disabled recipients whose drug addiction or
alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability
as described in §404.480,
we will count the total of such retroactive social security benefits as
unearned income in the first month such installments are paid, except to the
extent the rule in paragraph (d)(1) of this section would provide that such
benefits not be counted.
(e) Certain veterans benefits.
(1) If you receive a veterans benefit that includes an amount paid to you
because of a dependent, we do not count as your unearned income the amount paid
to you because of the dependent.
(2) If you are a dependent of an
individual who receives a veterans benefit and a portion of the benefit is
attributable to you as a dependent, we count the amount attributable to you as
your unearned cash income if—
(i) You reside with the individual
who receives the veterans benefit, or
(ii) You receive your own separate
payment from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements in paragraph (b) have been approved by the Office of Management
and Budget under control number 0960-0128)
[45 FR
65547, Oct. 3, 1980, as amended at 47 FR 4988, Feb. 3, 1982; 47 FR 13794, Apr.
1, 1982; 50 FR 48574, Nov. 26, 1985; 55 FR 20599, May 18, 1990; 56 FR 3212,
Jan. 29, 1991; 59 FR 59364, Nov. 17, 1994; 60 FR 8152, Feb. 10, 1995]
(a) General. While we must
know the source and amount of all of your unearned income for SSI, we do not
count all of it to determine your eligibility and benefit amount. We first
exclude income as authorized by other Federal laws (see paragraph (b) of this
section). Then we apply the other exclusions in the order listed in paragraph
(c) of this section to the rest of your unearned income in the month. We never
reduce your unearned income below zero or apply any unused unearned income
exclusion to earned income except for the $20 general exclusion described in
paragraph (c)(12) of this section.
(b) Other Federal laws. Some
Federal laws other than the Social Security Act provide that we cannot count
some of your unearned income for SSI purposes. We list the laws and the exclusions
in the appendix to this subpart which we update periodically.
(c) Other unearned income we do
not count. We do not count as unearned income—
(1) Any public agency's refund of
taxes on real property or food;
(2) Assistance based on need which
is wholly funded by a State or one of its political subdivisions. (For purposes
of this rule, an Indian tribe is considered a political subdivision of a
State.) Assistance is based on need when it is provided under a program which
uses the amount of your income as one factor to determine your eligibility.
Assistance based on need includes State supplementation of Federal SSI benefits
as defined in subpart T of this part but does not include payments under a
Federal/State grant program such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children
under title IV-A of the Social Security Act;
(3) Any portion of a grant,
scholarship, or fellowship used for paying tuition, fees, or other necessary
educational expenses. However, we do count any portion set aside or actually
used for food, clothing, or shelter;
(4) Food which you or your spouse
raise if it is consumed by you or your household;
(5) 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. See §416.1150 for a
more detailed discussion of this assistance, particularly the treatment of
in-kind support and maintenance received as the result of a major disaster;
(6) Up to $20 of unearned income in
a month if it is infrequent or irregular; that is, if you receive a type of
income listed in §416.1121
only once during a calendar quarter from a single source or if you cannot
reasonably expect it. If the total amount of infrequent or irregular unearned
income in a month exceeds $20, we cannot use this exclusion;
(7) Alaska Longevity Bonus payments
made to an individual who is a resident of Alaska and who, prior to October 1,
1985: met the 25-year residency requirement for receipt of such payments in
effect prior to January 1, 1983; and was eligible for SSI;
(8) Payments for providing foster care
to an ineligible child who was placed in your home by a public or private
nonprofit child placement or child care agency;
(9) 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 a part of the separate
burial fund. (See §416.1231
for an explanation of the exclusion of burial assets.) This exclusion from
income applies to interest earned on burial funds or appreciation in the value
of excluded burial arrangements which occur beginning November 1, 1982, or the
date you first become eligible for SSI benefits, if later;
(10) Certain support and maintenance
assistance as described in §416.1157;
(11) One-third of support payments
made to or for you by an absent parent if you are a child;
(12) The first $20 of any unearned
income in a month other than income in the form of in-kind support and
maintenance received in the household of another (see §416.1131) and
income based on need. Income based on need is a benefit that uses financial
need as measured by your income as a factor to determine your eligibility. The
$20 exclusion does not apply to a benefit based on need that is totally or
partially funded by the Federal government or by a nongovernmental agency.
However, assistance which is based on need and funded wholly by a State or one
of its political subdivisions is excluded totally from income as described in §416.1124(c)(2).
If you have less than $20 of unearned income in a month and you have earned
income in that month, we will use the rest of the $20 exclusion to reduce the
amount of your countable earned income;
(13) Any unearned income you receive
and use to fulfill an approved plan to achieve self-support if you are blind or
disabled and under age 65 or blind or disabled and received SSI as a blind or
disabled person for the month before you reached age 65. See §§416.1180 through
416.1182 for an
explanation of plans to achieve self-support and for the rules on when this
exclusion applies;
(14) The value of any assistance
paid with respect to a dwelling unit under—
(i) The United States Housing Act of
1937;
(ii) The National Housing Act;
(iii) Section 101 of the Housing and
Urban Development Act of 1965;
(iv) Title V of the Housing Act of
1949; or
(v) Section 202(h) of the Housing
Act of 1959;
(15) Any interest accrued on and
left to accumulate as part of the value of an excluded burial space purchase
agreement. This exclusion from income applies to interest accrued on or after
April 1, 1990;
(16) The value of any commercial
transportation ticket, for travel by you or your spouse among the 50 States,
the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,
Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, which is received as a
gift by you or your spouse and is not converted to cash. If such a ticket is
converted to cash, the cash you receive is income in the month you receive the
cash;
(17) Payments received by you from a
fund established by a State to aid victims of crime;
(18) Relocation assistance provided
you 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 that is subject to the treatment required by
section 216 of that Act;
(19) Hostile fire pay received from
one of the uniformed services pursuant to 37 U.S.C. 310; and
(20) Interest or other earnings on a
dedicated account which is excluded from resources. (See §416.1247).
[45 FR 65547, Oct. 3, 1980, as amended at 47 FR 55213, Dec. 8, 1982; 48 FR 21943, May 16, 1983; 48 FR 33258, July 21, 1983; 48 FR 57127, Dec. 28, 1983; 50 FR 48574, Nov. 26, 1985; 51 FR 39523, Oct. 29, 1986; 54 FR 19164, May 4, 1989; 55 FR 28378, July 11, 1990; 57 FR 1384, Jan. 14, 1992; 57 FR 53850, Nov. 13, 1992; 58 FR 63888, Dec. 3, 1993; 61 FR 1712, Jan. 23, 1996; 61 FR 49964, Sept. 24, 1996; 61 FR 67207, Dec. 20, 1996]