Income

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WHAT IS INCOME?

Earned Income is money you receive from wages or earnings from self-employment.

Unearned Income is money you receive from other sources, such as SSA, pensions, state disability, unemployment benefits, interest income, and cash from friends and relatives.

In-Kind Income is food, clothing, or shelter that is either free or less than the fair value.  Click here for more detailed information.

Deemed Income is the part of the income of your spouse, parent with whom you live, or sponsor (of an alien), which SSA uses to compute your SSI payment amount.  Deeming worksheet 

WHAT INCOME DOES NOT COUNT FOR SSI?

Payments or services that are not counted as income for the SSI program include:

    small blue and black arrow  the first $20 of most income received in a month
    small blue and black arrow  the first $65 of earnings and one-half of earnings over $65 received in a month
    small blue and black arrow  the value of Food Stamps
    small blue and black arrow  income tax refunds
    small blue and black arrow  home energy assistance
    small blue and black arrow  assistance based on need funded by a state or local government
    small blue and black arrow  small amounts of income received irregularly or infrequently
    small blue and black arrow  food, clothing, or shelter based on need provided by nonprofit agencies
    small blue and black arrow  loans to you (cash or in-kind) that you have to repay
    small blue and black arrow  money someone else spends to pay your expenses for items other than food, clothing, or shelter (e.g., someone pays your telephone or medical bills.)
    small blue and black arrow  income set aside under a plan for achieving self-support (PASS) 

HOW DOES YOUR INCOME AFFECT YOUR SSI PAYMENT?

Step 1: SSA subtracts any income that is not counted from your total income. This figure is your "countable income."

Step 2: SSA subtracts this "countable income" from the SSI federal benefit rate. The result is your monthly SSI payment as follows:

1)  Total Income
    -Income that is not counted
    =Countable income

2)  SSI federal benefit rate
    -Countable income
    =SSI federal payment

WHEN DOES DEEMED INCOME APPLY?

small blue ball  When a person who is eligible for SSI lives with a spouse who is not eligible for SSI, SSA may count some of the spouse's income in figuring the SSI payment.
small blue ball  When a disabled child under age 18 lives with parents who do not receive SSI, SSA may count the parents' (including step-parents') income in figuring the SSI payment.
small blue ball  When an alien has a sponsor, SSA may count the sponsor's income in figuring the SSI payment.

WHEN DOES DEEMED INCOME NOT APPLY?

small blue ball  When you no longer live with a spouse or parent.
small blue ball  When a disabled or blind child reaches age 18.
small blue ball  When an alien's sponsor dies.