2011 Annual Report of the SSI Program

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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);
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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;
Amounts received by Medicaid beneficiaries from the “Incentives for Prevention of Chronic Diseases in Medicaid” program established by the Affordable Care Act of 2010;
Payments to Indian landowners made in accordance with the Cobell et al. v. Salazar et al. lawsuit settlement, as ratified by the Claims Resettlement Act of 2010;
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;
3. Resource Exclusions
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;
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 12 months5;
Refundable tax credits (or advance payment of such credits) received between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2012 (for 12 months following the month of receipt), in accordance with the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010;
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;
Amounts received by Medicaid beneficiaries from the “Incentives for Prevention of Chronic Diseases in Medicaid” program established by the Affordable Care Act of 2010;
Payments to Indian landowners made in accordance with the Cobell et al. v. Salazar et al. lawsuit settlement, as ratified by the Claims Resettlement Act of 2010 (for 12 months following the month of receipt);
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

1
Effective January 1, 2011 (75 FR 74123). The student earned income exclusion is increased yearly based on changes in the cost of living. However, because there was no cost-of-living increase for 2011, the excluded amounts remain at 2010 levels.

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. As a result, amounts of blind work expenses reduce SSI earned income to a greater degree than impairment-related work expenses.

3
This unearned income exclusion was authorized by the Improving Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2010. The exclusion sunsets five years after the date of enactment (in October 2015).

4
The exclusion period was extended from 9 to 12 months by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, for refunds or credits received between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2012. On January 1, 2013, the period reverts to 9 months.

5
The exclusion period was extended from 2 to 12 months by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, for refunds or credits received between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2012.


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