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IMA POLICY MANUAL
PART VI: FINANCIAL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Chapter 4: Determining Countable Income
| ALL |
Exclude payments made under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990, P.L. 101-425, as compensation for exposure to radiation. |
Railroad Retirement Board Benefits 4.34
| ALL |
Count as unearned income the gross benefit amount before any deductions. The amount of the check may be less than the gross amount due to a Medicare deduction. |
Rehabilitation Services Administration Payments 4.35
| MA |
Exclude these payments.
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| TANF |
See MA. |
| GC |
See MA.
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| FS |
Count as unearned income the payment minus any portion that is a reimbursement as defined in Section 4.36: Reimbursements in this Chapter. |
| MA |
A reimbursement is money received from an organization or person outside the group to cover past, current, or future expenses.
Exclude a reimbursement if it is:
- For actual expenses.
- Earmarked to cover those expenses.
- Paid or documented separately from any other payment such as wages.
Count as income any reimbursement which does not meet the three conditions above or is not listed below (see also Section 4.12: Donations in this Chapter).
The following are examples of types of reimbursements that should be excluded:
- Payments to volunteers for expenses incurred in their work.
- Related expense allowances (separate from wages or incentive payments) from an agency or organization to participate in the training program such as travel, per diem, uniforms, and transportation to and from the training or job site.
- Any payments to cover medical care from sources such as Medicare, private insurance, or government programs.
- Refunds of Medicare Part A or Part B premiums as a result of Department Buy-In.
- Title XX payments for services other than normal living expenses such as adult chore services.
- Compensation awarded for a particular use such as Workers' Compensation which must be used for training expenses or disaster related loans and grants.
- Transportation reimbursement payments for jury duty.
- Stipends provided to participants of the FSET or TANF work program.
- Any work-related reimbursement.
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| TANF |
See MA. |
| GC |
See MA.
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| FS |
See MA. In addition, count as unearned income any portion of a reimbursement that:
- Covers normal living expenses (rent, food eaten at home, clothing, utilities, and so on),
- Is not intended and used for a specifically identified expense, or
- Exceeds the actual expense as indicated by the provider or FS group.
Multiple expenses covered by a payment need not be separately identified or counted unless a normal living expense is included. |
| MA |
Rental income is money a person (landlord) receives for allowing another person (renter) to use the landlord's property. It includes income from a lease.
Income from real estate is earned income if the individual manages the property by collecting rental payments and by providing services to maintain the property.
Income from real estate is unearned income if the property is managed by a rental company or other party and the individual has no specific responsibility for the management of the property.
Expenses related to the maintenance of the property - including a mortgage payment on the property - must be subtracted from gross rental income.
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| TANF |
See MA. |
| GC |
See MA. |
| FS |
Rental income is money a person (landlord) receives for allowing another person (renter) to use the landlord's property. It includes income from a lease.
Treatment of rental payments as earned or unearned income depends on the amount of time the landlord actively engages in managing the rental unit(s):
- Under 20 hours per week: the monthly rental payments are countable unearned income
- 20 hours per week: the monthly rental payments are countable self-employment earnings and the 20 percent earned income disregard is allowed (see Section 6.3: Income Disregards and Deductions in this Part).
Active management of the rental unit(s) includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Advertising
- Showings to prospective renters
- Accounting activities
- Inspections
- Cleaning, repairing, and redecorating
Whether earned or unearned, count the gross rental income minus expenses. |
| ALL |
Income from boarders includes all direct payments to the household for the boarder's room, meals, and utilities.
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| MA |
Count gross boarder income minus expenses as earned income (boarder income is treated as other self-employment income). Expenses deducted must be clearly associated with the rental unit (i.e., expenses the group would incur as a result of housing a boarder). Shelter expenses paid directly by the boarders to a third party are not considered income to the household.
| A boarder is charged $100 per month and must pay the household's electric bill of $50 per month. The boarder pays the electric company directly. The amount considered income from the boarder is $100 per month. | |
| TANF |
See MA.
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| GC |
See MA.
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| FS |
A boarder is charged $100 per month and must pay the household's electric bill of $50 per month. The boarder pays the electric company directly. The amount considered income from the boarder is $100 per month.
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| ALL |
A roomer is a person who is not a group member but lives with the group for lodging and does not eat with or pay the group for food. A roomer lives in someone else's home and pays rent to the owner.
Count the gross rental payment minus expenses. Such expenses must be clearly associated with the rental unit (i.e., expenses the group would incur as a result of renting out part of its home). If expenses are greater than the gross rental payment, then reduce gross rental payment to zero.
Roomer income is considered unearned income if no services are provided. Roomer income is considered earned if services are provided. |
Roommates - Shared Living Arrangements 4.37.3
| MA |
Shared living arrangements occur when separate households occupy the same dwelling and neither household owns the dwelling. Roommates jointly pay for the cost of housing to an outside entity. The households have an agreement to divide common costs such as rent, utilities, and so on. Payments made by one household to the other under the agreement will not be counted as income since the receiving party acts primarily as a courier in taking the payments to the landlord or utility company.
Exclude cash payments given to the assistance group by a non-group household member for his/her share of the household expense. The household that pays the landlord does not have the money counted as income.
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| TANF |
See MA.
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| GC |
See MA.
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| FS |
When determining the shelter costs of a group that shares housing with a roommate, only that portion of the rent and utilities paid by the group are counted. |
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