42 U.S.C. § 1382a - Income; earned and unearned income defined; exclusions from income

• Cite as: 42 U.S.C. § 1382a

(a) For purposes of this subchapter, income means both earned income and unearned income; and-

(1) earned income means only-

(A) wages as determined under section 403(f)(5)(C) of this title but without the application of section 410(j)(3) of this title (and, in the case of cash remuneration paid for service as a member of a uniformed service (other than payments described in paragraph (2)(H) of this subsection or subsection (b)(20)), without regard to the limitations contained in section 409(d) of this title);

(B) net earnings from self-employment, as defined in section 411 of this title (without the application of the second and third sentences following subsection (a)(11),¹ the last paragraph of subsection (a), and section 410(j)(3) of this title), including earnings for services described in paragraphs (4), (5), and (6) of subsection (c);

(C) remuneration received for services performed in a sheltered workshop or work activities center; and

(D) any royalty earned by an individual in connection with any publication of the work of the individual, and that portion of any honorarium which is received for services rendered; and

(2) unearned income means all other income, including-

(A) support and maintenance furnished in cash or kind; except that (i) in the case of any individual (and his eligible spouse, if any) living in another person's household and receiving support and maintenance in kind from such person, the dollar amounts otherwise applicable to such individual (and spouse) as specified in subsections (a) and (b) of section 1382 of this title shall be reduced by 331/3 percent in lieu of including such support and maintenance in the unearned income of such individual (and spouse) as otherwise required by this subparagraph, (ii) in the case of any individual or his eligible spouse who resides in a nonprofit retirement home or similar nonprofit institution, support and maintenance shall not be included to the extent that it is furnished to such individual or such spouse without such institution receiving payment therefor (unless such institution has expressly undertaken an obligation to furnish full support and maintenance to such individual or spouse without any current or future payment therefor) or payment therefor is made by another nonprofit organization, and (iii) support and maintenance shall not be included and the provisions of clause (i) shall not be applicable in the case of any individual (and his eligible spouse, if any) for the period which begins with the month in which such individual (or such individual and his eligible spouse) began to receive support and maintenance while living in a residential facility (including a private household) maintained by another person and ends with the close of the month in which such individual (or such individual and his eligible spouse) ceases to receive support and maintenance while living in such a residential facility (or, if earlier, with the close of the seventeenth month following the month in which such period began), if, not more than 30 days prior to the date on which such individual (or such individual and his eligible spouse) began to receive support and maintenance while living in such a residential facility, (I) such individual (or such individual and his eligible spouse) were residing in a household maintained by such individual (or by such individual and others) as his or their own home, (II) there occurred within the area in which such household is located (and while such individual, or such individual and his spouse, were residing in the household referred to in subclause (I)) a catastrophe on account of which the President declared a major disaster to exist therein for purposes of the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act [ 42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.], and (III) such individual declares that he (or he and his eligible spouse) ceased to continue living in the household referred to in subclause (II) because of such catastrophe;

(B) any payments received as an annuity, pension, retirement, or disability benefit, including veterans' compensation and pensions, workmen's compensation payments, old-age, survivors, and disability insurance benefits, railroad retirement annuities and pensions, and unemployment insurance benefits;

(C) prizes and awards;

(D) payments to the individual occasioned by the death of another person, to the extent that the total of such payments exceeds the amount expended by such individual for purposes of the deceased person's last illness and burial;

(E) support and alimony payments, and (subject to the provisions of subparagraph (D) excluding certain amounts expended for purposes of a last illness and burial) gifts (cash or otherwise) and inheritances;

(F) rents, dividends, interest, and royalties not described in paragraph (1)(E);

(G) any earnings of, and additions to, the corpus of a trust established by an individual (within the meaning of section 1382b(e) of this title), of which the individual is a beneficiary, to which section 1382b(e) of this title applies, and, in the case of an irrevocable trust, with respect to which circumstances exist under which a payment from the earnings or additions could be made to or for the benefit of the individual; and

(H) payments to or on behalf of a member of a uniformed service for housing of the member (and his or her dependents, if any) on a facility of a uniformed service, including payments provided under section 403 of title 37 for housing that is acquired or constructed under subchapter IV of chapter 169 of title 10, or any related provision of law, and any such payments shall be treated as support and maintenance in kind subject to subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.

(b) In determining the income of an individual (and his eligible spouse) there shall be excluded-

(1) subject to limitations (as to amount or otherwise) prescribed by the Commissioner of Social Security, if such individual is under the age of 22 and is, as determined by the Commissioner of Social Security, a student regularly attending a school, college, or university, or a course of vocational or technical training designed to prepare him for gainful employment, the earned income of such individual;

(2)

(A) the first $240 per year (or proportionately smaller amounts for shorter periods) of income (whether earned or unearned) other than income which is paid on the basis of the need of the eligible individual, and

(B) monthly (or other periodic) payments received by any individual, under a program established prior to July 1, 1973 (or any program established prior to such date but subsequently amended so as to conform to State or Federal constitutional standards), if (i) such payments are made by the State of which the individual receiving such payments is a resident, (ii) eligibility of any individual for such payments is not based on need and is based solely on attainment of age 65 or any other age set by the State and residency in such State by such individual, and (iii) on or before September 30, 1985, such individual (I) first becomes an eligible individual or an eligible spouse under this title, and (II) satisfies the twenty-five-year residency requirement of such program as such program was in effect prior to January 1, 1983;

(3) in any calendar quarter, the first-

(A) $60 of unearned income, and

(B) $30 of earned income,

of such individual (and such spouse, if any) which, as determined in accordance with criteria prescribed by the Commissioner of Social Security, is received too infrequently or irregularly to be included;

(4)

(A) if such individual (or such spouse) is blind (and has not attained age 65, or received benefits under this subchapter (or aid under a State plan approved under section 1202 or 1382 of this title) for the month before the month in which he attained age 65), (i) the first $780 per year (or proportionately smaller amounts for shorter periods) of earned income not excluded by the preceding paragraphs of this subsection, plus one-half of the remainder thereof, (ii) an amount equal to any expenses reasonably attributable to the earning of any income, and (iii) such additional amounts of other income, where such individual has a plan for achieving self-support approved by the Commissioner of Social Security, as may be necessary for the fulfillment of such plan,

(B) if such individual (or such spouse) is disabled but not blind (and has not attained age 65, or received benefits under this subchapter (or aid under a State plan approved under section 1352 or 1382 of this title) for the month before the month in which he attained age 65), (i) the first $780 per year (or proportionately smaller amounts for shorter periods) of earned income not excluded by the preceding paragraphs of this subsection, (ii) such additional amounts of earned income of such individual, if such individual's disability is sufficiently severe to result in a functional limitation requiring assistance in order for him to work, as may be necessary to pay the costs (to such individual) of attendant care services, medical devices, equipment, prostheses, and similar items and services (not including routine drugs or routine medical services unless such drugs or services are necessary for the control of the disabling condition) which are necessary (as determined by the Commissioner of Social Security in regulations) for that purpose, whether or not such assistance is also needed to enable him to carry out his normal daily functions, except that the amounts to be excluded shall be subject to such reasonable limits as the Commissioner of Social Security may prescribe, (iii) one-half of the amount of earned income not excluded after the application of the preceding provisions of this subparagraph, and (iv) such additional amounts of other income, where such individual has a plan for achieving self-support approved by the Commissioner of Social Security, as may be necessary for the fulfillment of such plan, or