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Effective: December 1, 2006 |
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20.25.05ar1 - Excluded Income (Archive) |
Archived: August 1, 2007 |
Some sources of income can be excluded from counting in the income calculation.
This section lists income that is excluded for all programs, except for a client who is using Long-Term Care (LTC) budgeting. For a list of income that is not counted for LTC, please see Long-Term Care (LTC) and Elderly Waiver (EW).
For additional excluded income, please see Excluded Income – Program Provisions.
The following income sources are excluded for all programs, except LTC budgeting, and are not counted in a client’s income total:
l Reverse mortgages.
l Payments from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
l German Reparation payments to victims of Nazi persecution.
l Netherlands Act (WUV) payments to victims of Nazi persecution.
These are payments the Dutch government makes under the Netherlands' Act on Benefits for Victims of Persecution 1940-1945. These payments are for both Dutch and non-Dutch people who, during the German and Japanese occupation of the Netherlands and Netherlands East Indies (now the Republic of Indonesia) in World War II, were victims of persecution because of their race, religion, beliefs, or homosexuality and, as a result of that persecution, suffer from illness or disability. Payments under this Act began January 1, 1973, and include four categories of benefits: periodic income payments; compensation for non-definable disability expenses (Dutch acronym, NMIK); reimbursement of persecution-related disability expenses; and partial compensation for persecution-related disability expenses.
l Payments made under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (Public Law 101-426).
l Vietnamese Commando Compensation Act payments.
l Payments made under Public Law 104-204 to children of Vietnam veterans born with Spina Bifida.
l Blood Product Settlement payments.
l Benefits from Children's Nutrition Act.
l Benefits from Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) nutrition program.
l Benefits from the National School Lunch Act.
l Benefits from the Food Support Program issued in coupons or electronically.
l Benefits from the State Food Programs provided to noncitizens.
l Vouchers from the Minnesota Grown Program.
l Austrian Reparation payments.
l The principal portion of repayments on a loan owed to the applicant or enrollee.
Note: Interest payments received by the client are counted as income.
l Loans which the applicant or enrollee has a written obligation to repay, except some student loans. See Student Financial Aid Income.
l Rental payments made directly to a landlord through the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) agency, including Section 8 payments made through the Housing and Redevelopment Authority.
l Refunds or rebates from HUD for excess rents charged.
l Security deposit refunds and utility deposit refunds whether paid by the applicant or another party, including the Emergency Assistance (EA) or Emergency General Assistance (EGA) programs.
l Federal and state adoption assistance payments, except for state adoption assistance payments which continue beyond age 21. See Public Assistance Payments Income.
l Mandatory salary reduction amounts for military service personnel, which are used to fund the GI Bill (Public Law 99 576).
l Amounts a client receives which are related to shared-living expenses and are solely to pay a portion of another person's living expenses.
n Exclude payments a person receives from a roommate for a portion of the rent to be forwarded to the landlord.
n Do not apply this exclusion to payments people receive from renting or providing room and board in property they own or are purchasing. See Roomer/Boarder Income, and Rental Income.
l Payments received and used for care and maintenance of a third party beneficiary who is not a household member.
This includes:
n Federally-funded foster care (IV-E).
n State-funded foster care.
n Adult foster care payments.
n Other payments for the care of foster children or adults who live in the household.
Note: If the person receiving the payment is running a for-profit business, such as a GRH facility, then these payments should be counted as income.
l Agent Orange Settlement Fund payments.
l White Earth Land Settlement Act (WELSA) payments.
l Payments by the Secretary of Defense to people captured and interned by North Vietnam.
l Payments to replace personal or real property made by public agencies, issued by insurance companies, awarded by a court, or issued through public appeal.
l Payments by the vocational rehabilitation program administered by the state under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 268A, except those payments that are for current living expenses.
l Relocation Assistance for displaced persons under Title II of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, the Housing and Redevelopment Act of 1965, or the Housing Act of 1965.
l Payments from the Consumer Support Grant (CSG) program.
l Federal payments issued due to a presidential declaration of disaster. Federal payments include, but are not limited to, grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
l Disaster assistance provided by states, local governments, and disaster relief organizations such as Red Cross and Salvation Army.
l Family Support Grant Payments.
l Payments made to compensate crime victims for losses resulting from the crime.
l Settlements to hemophiliacs under the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Act of 1998.
l Federal and non-federal matching funds deposited into Individual Development Accounts (IDAs).
l In-Kind Income.
n In-kind income is income a person receives in a form other than cash.
n Refer to the In-Kind Income section of this chapter for more specific details on this type of income.
l Cash from the sale of the client's property or assets, regardless of whether the asset was excluded. This is considered a conversion of assets from one form of property to cash.
Example:
An enrollee receives $3,000 from the sale of his car.
Action:
This money is excluded as income because the $3,000 proceeds from the sale of the car was converted to cash, an asset.
l Money withdrawn from savings accounts or other liquid assets for living expenses.
n Continue to count interest and dividends earned on the asset as income, even if it is immediately withdrawn.
Example:
A household receives interest of $65 on money in a savings account. The $65 is withdrawn from the account the day after it was deposited into the account by the bank.
Action:
Count the interest earned as income, however it is not counted as income again when withdrawn from the account. That is a conversion of an asset to cash, another type of asset.
Example:
A household withdraws $300 each month from a savings account and uses it to pay rent.
Action:
This money is excluded as income, because it is spending of an asset.
l Tax refunds, credits, and rebates.
Tax refunds include:
n Federal and state withholding refunds.
n Homeowner or renter Property Tax Refund.
Tax credits include:
n Earned Income Credit (EIC).
n Federal Child Care Credit.
n Minnesota Working Family Credit.
Tax rebates include:
n Amounts returned to individual taxpayers based on federal or state taxes paid, such as the 1999 sales tax rebate authorized by the Minnesota legislature.
l Benefits and payments provided to volunteers through the Domestic Volunteer Service Act, which includes:
n Title I:
m Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA).
m Americorps VISTA payments.
m University Year for Action (UYA).
m Urban Crime Prevention Program.
n Title II:
m Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).
m Foster Grandparent Program.
m Older Americans Community Service Program.
m Senior Health Aides.
m Senior Companions.
n Title III:
m Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE).
m Active Corps of Executives (ACE).
Exception: Count payments to people administering VISTA who are civil service employees as earned income for all programs.
l Reimbursements for expenses, other than normal living expenses.
This includes reimbursements from:
n Employment and training programs such as Workforce Investment Act (WIA).
n Volunteer service programs.
n County social services programs.
n Jury duty.
n Employment.
n Reimbursements for medical expenses.
l Certain payments made by tax-exempt organizations to or for the benefit of children with life-threatening conditions.
Apply this exclusion to cash payments of up to $2,000 per calendar year and to the total value of in-kind gifts.
n Include the following, but do not limit to only those listed, in the total payments:
m Gifts to the child's parents for the child's benefit and
m Indirect benefits to other family members, such as payment to accompany the child on a trip.
n Count the amount of total cash payments that exceed $2,000 in a calendar year.
n Count the value of in-kind gifts converted to cash unless the gift could be excluded as an asset under other provisions.
n If an organization's status is unclear, ask if the organization is a section 501 (3) organization under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from taxation under Section 501 (a). Accept the organization's statement that the gift was made based on a child's life-threatening condition.
Example:
The Make-A-Wish Foundation provides Charlie, who has a terminal illness, with a trip to Florida to meet the Twins baseball players. The foundation pays for Charlie’s portion of the trip and provides the family with $5000 to spend on their two week vacation and pay for the parents’ flights.
Action:
Exclude $2000 of the $5,000 provided to the family. Count the remaining $3,000 as income.