2020 Annual Report of the SSI Program

Table of Contents Previous Next Tables Figures

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 (EITC)) and any payment received under section 3507 of the Internal Revenue Code (relating to advance payment of EITC);
Any refundable child 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 $1,9001 per month but not more than $7,670 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 Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (or disability payments under a former State plan) before 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 or she attained age 65;
2. Unearned Income Exclusions
Any public agency’s refund of taxes on real property or food;
Assistance based on need wholly funded by a State or one of its political subdivisions. This exclusion includes State supplementation of Federal SSI benefits but does not include payments under a Federal/State grant program such as TANF;
Any portion of a grant, scholarship, fellowship, or gift to an individual used for paying tuition, fees, or other necessary educational expenses;3
Food raised by a household if it is consumed by that household;
Any interest earned on excluded burial funds and any appreciation in the value of an excluded burial arrangement left to accumulate and become part of the separately identifiable burial fund;
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;
Payments to Indian landowners made in accordance with the Cobell v. Salazar, et al. lawsuit settlement as ratified by the Claims Resettlement Act of 2010;
Contributions to an Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account4 are excluded for the account’s beneficiary. In addition, interest and dividends accrued by and retained within an ABLE account are also excluded; and
3. Resource Exclusions
SSI or Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance retroactive payments for 9 months following the month of receipt;
Refunds of Federal income taxes and advances made by an employer relating to an EITC for 12 months following the month of receipt;5
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 months;6
Refundable tax credits or advance payment of such credits for 12 months following the month of receipt;7
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 recipient, for the costs of medical assistance provided to that individual);
Payments or benefits provided under a Federal statute other than Title XVI of the Social Security Act where exclusion is provided by such statute;

1
Effective January 1, 2020 (84 FR 56515). The student earned income exclusion generally increases yearly based on changes in the cost of living.
See table
V.E1 for the history of maximum monthly and calendar year exclusion amounts.

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
Funds used for food or shelter are not exclusions.

4
Contributions, however, do not decrease the countable income of the person contributing. For example, if a parent who is a deemor to an SSI recipient were to deposit $500 of their earnings into the recipient’s ABLE account, we would still consider that $500 to be part of the parent’s gross wages, unless excluded otherwise. Similarly, if a recipient were to deposit $500 of their earnings into their ABLE account, we would still consider the $500 to be part of their gross wages, unless excluded otherwise.

5
Lawmakers extended the exclusion period 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. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-240) made the 12-month exclusion permanent.

6
Lawmakers extended the exclusion period 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.

7
Prior to the enactment of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-240) on January 2, 2013, this resource exclusion applied to such tax credits received between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2012. P.L. 112-240 made the 12-month resource exclusion permanent.


Table of Contents Previous Next Tables Figures
SSA Home | Privacy Policy | Website Policies & Other Important Information | Site Map | Actuarial Publications May 29, 2020