New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 10 - HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 87 - NEW JERSEY SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (NJ SNAP) MANUAL › Subchapter 5 - FINANCIAL ELIGIBILITY; INCOME › Section 10:87-5.9 - Identification of income exclusions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) Only the
				following shall be excluded from household income; no other income shall be
				excluded:
1. Any gain or benefit, which is
				not in the form of money payable directly to the household shall be excluded,
				including non-monetary or in-kind benefits such as meals, clothing, public
				housing or produce from a garden;
2. A payment made in money on behalf of a
				household shall be considered a vendor payment when a person or organization
				outside of the household used its own funds to make a direct payment to either
				the household's creditors or a person or organization providing a service to
				the household. For example, if a relative or friend who is not a household
				member pays the household's rent directly to the landlord, the payment is
				considered a vendor payment and is not counted as income to the household.
i. Rent or mortgage payments made to
				landlords or mortgagees by HUD, or by any State or local housing authority, are
				vendor payments and are excluded.
ii. Payments by a government agency to a
				child care institution to provide day care for a household member are excluded
				as vendor payments.
iii. Payments
				of money which are not made to a third party, but are made directly to a
				household, are counted as income and are not excluded as vendor
				payments.
iv. Moneys which are
				legally obligated and otherwise payable to the household but which are diverted
				by the provider of the payment to a third party for a household expense shall
				be counted as income and not excluded as a vendor payment. The distinction is
				whether or not the person or organization making the payment of behalf of the
				household is using funds which otherwise would have to be paid to the
				household. Such funds include wages earned by a household member and therefore
				owed to the household, a public assistance grant to which the household is
				legally entitled, support and alimony payments in amounts which legally must be
				paid to a household member, and student educational assistance that is provided
				on behalf of the household to a third party for living expenses.
(1) If any employer, agency, former spouse,
				or other person who owes these funds to a household diverts them instead to a
				third party to pay for a household expense, these payments shall be counted as
				income to the household. Diverted educational assistance payments made to the
				household for living expenses shall also be counted.
(2) If an employer, agency, former spouse, or
				other person makes payments for household expenses to a third party from funds
				not owed to the household, these payments shall be considered as vendor
				payments and thus excluded. Examples are as follows:
(A) Example A: Wages earned by the household
				member that are garnished or diverted by an employer and paid to a third party
				for a household's expenses, such as rent, shall be considered income. However,
				if the employer pays a household's rent directly to the landlord in addition to
				paying the household its regular wages, this rent payment shall be considered a
				vendor payment and thus excluded. In addition, if the employer provides housing
				to an employee, the value of the housing shall not be counted as
				income.
(B) Example B: All or part
				of a public assistance grant which would normally be provided in a money
				payment to the household, but which was diverted to third parties or to a
				protective payee for purposes such as managing a household's expenses, shall be
				considered income to the household. However, payments by the CWA that would not
				normally be provided in a money payment to the household, and that are over and
				above normal public assistance grants, shall be considered as a vendor payment
				and thus excluded if they are made directly to a third party for a household
				expense. This rule applies even if the household has the option of receiving a
				direct cash payment.
(C) Example C:
				Money deducted or diverted from a court-ordered support or alimony payment (or
				other binding written support or alimony agreement) to a third party for a
				household expense shall be considered as income. However, payments specified by
				the court order or other legally binding agreement to go directly to the third
				party rather than to the household, and support payments not required by a
				court order or other legally binding agreement (including payments in excess of
				the amount specified in a court order or written agreement) which are paid to a
				third party rather, than the household shall be considered as a vendor payment
				and thus excluded, even if the household agrees to the arrangement.
v. An emergency PA or
				GA payment provided to a third party on behalf of a household containing a
				migrant or seasonal farmworker shall be treated as an excluded vendor payment,
				provided that the farmworker is in the jobstream;
3. Utility allowance payments, rebates and
				reimbursements to the individual, the utility or the landlord are excluded from
				countable income.
i. When a public housing
				authority receives a household's HUD utility allowance and applies it toward
				the household's rent, the "net" rent that the household must pay shall be
				considered the rental expense for NJ SNAP purposes. The HUD utility allowance,
				in this case, shall not be considered when determining (per
				10:87-5.10(a)7 
				iv(6)) whether the household is entitled to a HCSUA or LUA;
4. A WFNJ payment, which is not
				made directly to the household, but paid to a third party on behalf of the
				household to pay a household expense, shall be considered an excludable vendor
				payment and not counted as income to the household, if the payment is for:
i. Medical assistance;
ii. Child care assistance;
iii. WFNJ emergency assistance (including,
				but not limited to housing and transportation payments) for migrant or seasonal
				farmworker households while they are in the job stream;
iv. WFNJ/GA housing assistance from a State
				or local housing authority;
v.
				WFNJ/GA assistance which cannot be made directly to the household in the form
				of cash; or
vi. WFNJ emergency and
				special assistance provided to a third party on behalf of a household, which is
				not otherwise specifically excluded from countable income. To be considered
				emergency or special assistance under this provision, the assistance must be
				provided over and above the normal WFNJ grant, or cannot be provided as part of
				the WFNJ grant;
5. Cash
				donations based on need which were received on or after February 1, 1988 from
				private nonprofit charitable organizations that do not exceed $ 300.00 in a
				Federal fiscal year quarter;
6. Any
				income in the certification period which is received too infrequently or
				irregularly to be reasonably and anticipated but not in excess of $ 30.00 in a
				calendar quarter, shall be excluded;
7. Educational loans on which payment is
				deferred, grants, work study, scholarships, fellowships, veteran's educational
				benefits and the like shall be excluded, provided it meets the criteria at
				10:87-5.11;
8. All loans, including loans from private
				individuals, as well as commercial institutions, are excluded from income.
				Educational loans in which repayment is deferred shall be excluded in
				accordance with
				10:87-5.11. Any loan on which
				repayment must begin within 60 days after receipt of the loan shall not be
				considered a deferred repayment loan.
i.
				Reverse mortgages are considered loans and are therefore excluded as income.
				However, once these funds are placed in an account, they become an available
				resource;
9.
				Reimbursements for past or future expenses shall be excluded to the extent that
				they do not exceed actual expenses and do not represent a gain or benefit to
				the household. Reimbursements for normal household living expenses, such as
				rent or mortgage payments, personal clothing or food eaten at home are a gain
				or benefit and are not excluded.
i. In order
				to be excluded, reimbursements must be provided specifically for an identified
				expense other than normal living expenses and used for the purpose intended.
				When a reimbursement, including a flat allowance, covers multiple expenses,
				each expense does not have to be separately identified as long as none of the
				reimbursement covers normal living expenses.
ii. That amount of a reimbursement which
				exceeds the actual incurred expenses shall be counted as unearned income.
				However, reimbursements shall not be considered to exceed actual expenses
				unless the provider or the household indicates the amount is
				excessive.
iii. Examples of
				excludable reimbursements that are not considered to be a gain or benefit to
				the household are:
(1) Reimbursements or flat
				allowances for job or training related expenses such as travel, per diem,
				uniforms, and transportation to and from the job or training site.
				Reimbursements which are provided over and above the basic wages for these
				expenses are excluded; however, these expenses, if not reimbursed, are not
				otherwise deductible. Reimbursements for travel expenses incurred by migrant
				workers are also excluded.
(2)
				Reimbursements for out-of-pocket expenses of volunteers incurred in the course
				of their work.
(3) Medical or
				dependent care reimbursements.
(4)
				Reimbursements received by households to pay for services provided by Title XX
				of the Social Security Act (social services).
(5) Any allowance a county agency provides no
				more frequently than annually for children's clothes when the children enter or
				return to school or day care, provided the county agency does not reduce the
				monthly WFNJ/TANF payment for the month in which the school clothes allowance
				is provided. County agencies are not required to verify attendance at school or
				day care.
(6) Reimbursements made
				to the household at
				10:87-10.15 for expenses necessary
				for participation in an education component under the NJ SNAP ETP.
iv. The following shall not be
				considered as excludable reimbursements:
(1)
				No portion of benefits provided under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act, to
				the extent that such benefits are attributed to an adjustment for work-related
				or child care expenses (except for payments or reimbursements for such expenses
				made under an employment, education or training program initiated under Title
				IV-A after September 19, 1988) shall be considered excludable; and
(2) No portion of any educational assistance
				that is provided for normal living expenses (room and board) shall be
				considered a reimbursement excludable;
10. Arrearages on child support and alimony
				payments made to the household from a non-household member in the form of a
				one-time payment shall be excluded as unearned income and treated as a lump-sum
				payment in accordance with
				10:87-6.9(d)2;
11. Money received and used for the care and
				maintenance of a third-party beneficiary who is not a household member shall be
				excluded.
i. If the intended beneficiaries of
				a single payment are both household and nonhousehold members, any identifiable
				portion of the payment intended and used for the care and maintenance of the
				nonhousehold member shall be excluded. If the nonhousehold member's portion
				cannot be readily identified, the payment shall be evenly prorated among
				intended beneficiaries and the exclusion applied to the nonhousehold member's
				pro rata share or the amount actually used for the nonhousehold member's care
				and maintenance, whichever is less.
ii. A foster care payment or a kinship
				payment shall not be considered as income to the household when the foster
				child or kinship child for whom that payment is intended is treated as a
				boarder and not included in the household, even when the household receives the
				payment directly.
iii. When one
				household is responsible for the payment of the rent, but shares the residence
				with a second household and receives a partial payment to pay the landlord from
				that second household, the household that actually pays the rent is not to have
				that partial payment considered as income;
12. Earned income (as defined at
				10:87-5.4 ) of students (as
				defined at
				10:87-10.2(b)3  )
				under 18 years of age shall be excluded. This exclusion will continue to apply
				during temporary interruptions in school attendance due to semester or vacation
				breaks; provided the child's enrollment will resume following the break.
i. If the child's earnings or amount of work
				performed cannot be differentiated from that of other household members, the
				total earnings shall be prorated equally among the working members and the
				child's pro rata share excluded.
ii. Individuals are considered children for
				the purposes of this provision if they are under the parental control of
				another household member;
13. The income, either earned or unearned, of
				an ineligible student as defined at
				10:87-2.3(a)2  i,
				shall be excluded.
14. Moneys
				received in the form of nonrecurring lump-sum payments including, but not
				limited to, income tax refunds, rebates or credits; retroactive lump-sum Social
				Security, SSI, public assistance, railroad retirement benefits or other
				payments; lump-sum insurance settlements; or refunds of security deposits on
				rental property or utilities, shall be excluded. Such payments will be counted
				as resources in the month received in accordance with
				10:87-4.3(a),
				unless excluded by
				10:87-4.8(a)17.
i. Any SSI benefits that are direct deposited
				into an SSI Dedicated Account shall be treated as a nonrecurring lump-sum
				payment, and are excluded from countable income, even if the funds are
				disbursed from the account. Interest earned in the account, however, shall be
				treated as income for NJ SNAP purposes.
ii. An Early Employment Initiative (EEI)
				payment is treated as a lump sum payment and shall be excluded. (See also
				10:87-4.1(b)  for
				persons categorically eligible);
15. The cost of producing self-employment
				income shall be excluded. The procedures for computing the cost of producing
				self-employment income are described at
				10:87-7.3;
16. Any income that is specifically excluded
				by any other Federal statute from consideration as income for the purpose of
				determining eligibility for the NJ SNAP program shall be excluded. The
				following qualify under this provision:
i.
				Reimbursements from the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property
				Acquisition Policy Act of 1970 ( Public Law 91-646 ).
ii. Payments received under the Alaska Native
				Claims Settlement Act (Public Law (92-203).
iii. Any payment to volunteers under Title II
				(RSVP, Foster Grandparents and so forth) of the Domestic Volunteer Services Act
				of 1973 ( Public Law 93-113 ), as amended, shall be excluded. Payments to
				volunteers under Title I of that Act (including payments from such Title I
				programs as VISTA, University Year for Action and the Urban Crime Prevention
				Program) shall be excluded for those individuals receiving NJ SNAP benefits or
				PA at the time they joined the Title I program, except that households that
				were receiving an income exclusion for VISTA or other Title I subsistence
				allowance at the time of conversion to the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (
				7 U.S.C. §§
												2011 et seq.), shall continue to receive an
				income exclusion for VISTA for the length of their volunteer contract in effect
				at the time of conversion. Temporary interruptions in NJ SNAP participation
				shall not alter the exclusion once the initial determination has been made. New
				applicants who were not receiving public assistance or NJ SNAP benefits when
				they joined VISTA shall have these volunteer payments included as earned
				income.
iv. Income derived from
				certain submarginal land of the United States that is held in trust for certain
				Indian tribes ( Public Law 94-114 ).
v. Payments of relocation assistance to
				members of the Navajo and Hopi Tribes under Public Law 93-531.
vi. Earned income tax credits:
(1) Earned income tax credits received as a
				result of Public Law 95-600, the Revenue Act of 1978, which are received before
				January 1, 1980; and
(2) Earned
				income tax credits received either as a lump-sum or as payments under Section
				3507 of the Internal Revenue Code.
vii. Payments or allowances made under any
				Federal law for the purpose of energy assistance, except for payments made
				under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act. The Home Energy Assistance and HUD
				Utility Allowance programs qualify as excluded income under this provision, as
				do Federal or State one-time payments for either weatherization or the
				emergency repair and/or replacement of heating or cooling devices. A down
				payment followed by a final payment, upon completion of the work, shall be
				considered a one-time payment for purposes of this provision.
viii. Income derived from disposition of
				funds to the Grand River Band of the Ottowa Indians ( Public Law 94-540
				).
ix. Payments received by the
				Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation and the Apache Tribe
				of the Mescalero Reservation from the Indian Claims Commission as designated
				under Public Law 94-443.
x.
				Payments to the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation or any of their
				members received pursuant to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 (
				Public Law 96-420 ).
xi. Any
				allowances or payments provided to individuals participating in programs under
				the Job Training partnership Act of l982 ( Public Law 97-300 ) or
				AmeriCorps/National Community Service Corps (NCSC) Program. Earnings provided
				to individuals participating under JTPA on-the-job training programs shall be
				excluded if the participants are under 19 years of age and are under the
				parental control of another adult household member, and the programs are
				administered under Section 204 (5), Title II, of JTPA.
xii. Any allowances, earnings or payments
				provided to individuals under the Senior Community Service Employment Program
				(SCSEP) enacted by the Older Americans Act Amendments of 1987 ( Public Law
				100-175 ). Programs funded by Title V moneys include, but are not limited to,
				Green Thumb, Inc., National Council on Aging, Inc. (NCOA), National Council of
				Senior Citizens' (NCSC) Senior Aide Program, and United Progress, Inc.
				(UPI).
xiii. Payments received
				under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 ( P.L. 100-383 ).
xiv. Amounts deemed necessary for the
				fulfillment of a Plan for Achieving Self-Support (PASS) under Title XVI of the
				Social Security Act.
xv.
				Transitional child care payments made under the Family Support Act of 1988
				(JOBS).
xvi. Payments made under
				the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act ( P.L. 100-426 ).
xvii. All payments from the Agent Orange
				Compensation Exclusion Act (
				P.L.
				101-201 ), retroactive to January 1, 1989.
				Payments made from the Agent Orange settlement fund under
				Section
				10405 of
				P.L.
				101-239 shall be excluded. Veteran's benefits
				authorized under the Agent Orange Act of 1991 (
				P.L.
				102-4 ) shall not be excluded by law.
xviii. Payments made to individuals because
				of their status as victims of Nazi persecution (
				P.L.
				103-286 ) shall be excluded.
xix. Any payment made to an NJ SNAP ETP
				participant under
				10:87-10.4(c)5 
				for costs that are reasonably necessary and directly related to participation
				in NJ SNAP ETP. These costs include, but are not limited to, dependent care
				costs, transportation or other expenses related to work, training or education,
				such as uniforms, personal safety items or other necessary equipment and books
				or training manuals. These costs shall not include the cost of meals away from
				home. The value of any dependent care services arranged under
				10:87-10.4(c)6 
				would be excluded.
xx. Governmental
				foster care payments received by households with foster care individuals who
				are considered to be boarders under
				10:87-2.3(b)6.
xxi. On-the-job training payments under the
				Summer Youth Employment and Training Program.
xxii. Payments made under the Crime Act of
				1984 to victims of crime ( P.L. 103-322 ).
xxiii. Payments made under
				Section
				421 of
				P.L.
				104-204 for children of Vietnam veterans who are
				born with spina bifida.
xxiv.
				Payments made under Public Law 100-707, the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
				and Emergency Assistance Act, to pay Disaster Unemployment Assistance to any
				individual unemployed as a result of a major disaster.
xxv. Payments under the Consolidated
				Appropriations Act of 2005,
				Public Law
				108-447, regarding any additional payment received
				by a member of the United States Armed Forces deployed to a designated combat
				zone. This additional payment shall be excluded from household income for the
				duration of the member's deployment if the additional pay is the result of
				deployment to or serving in a combat zone, and it was not received immediately
				prior to serving in the combat zone.
xxvi. Payments made under the National Flood
				Insurance Program (NFIP). Public Law 109-64, which amended
				the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, mandates that payments made under
				NFIP, for flood mitigation activities, shall not be counted as
				income;
17. The amount
				that the representative payee withholds from the funds it receives on behalf of
				an SSI recipient shall not be counted as income to the SSI recipient for NJ
				SNAP purposes;
18. The pro-rata
				share of income of an ineligible alien (see
				N.J.A.C.
				10:87-7.7(c) );
19. SNAP benefits from Puerto Rico, American
				Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; and
20. All legally obligated or court-ordered
				child support payments paid by a household member to, or on behalf of, a
				non-household member, including payments to a third party on behalf of the
				non-household member and amounts paid toward arrearages. Alimony payments made
				to or for a non-household member shall not be excluded as income.