§ 416.1161. Income of an ineligible spouse, ineligible parent, and essential person for deeming purposes.

The first step in deeming is determining how much income your ineligible spouse, ineligible parent (if you are a child), your sponsor (if you are an alien), or your essential person, has. We do not always include all of their income when we determine how much income to deem. In this section we explain the rules for determining how much of their income is subject to deeming. As part of the process of deeming income from your ineligible spouse or parent, we must determine the amount of income of any ineligible children in the household.

(a) For an ineligible spouse or parent. We do not include any of the following types of income (see § 416.1102) of an ineligible spouse or parent:

(1) Income excluded by Federal laws other than the Social Security Act (See the appendix to this subpart.)

(2) Any public income-maintenance payments (§ 416.1142(a)) your ineligible spouse or parent receives, and any income which was counted or excluded in figuring the amount of that payment;

(3) Any of the income of your ineligible spouse or parent that is used by a public income-maintenance program (§ 416.1142(a)) to determine the amount of that program's benefit to someone else;

(4) Any portion of a grant, scholarship, fellowship, or gift used or set aside to pay tuition, fees or other necessary educational expenses;

(5) Money received for providing foster care to an ineligible child;

(6) The value of food stamps and the value of Department of Agriculture donated foods;

(7) Food raised by your parent or spouse and consumed by members of the household in which you live;

(8) Tax refunds on income, real property, or food purchased by the family;

(9) Income used to fulfill an approved plan for achieving self-support (see §§ 416.1180 through 416.1182);

(10) Income used to comply with the terms of court-ordered support, or support payments enforced under title IV-D of the Act;

(11) The value of in-kind support and maintenance;

(12) Alaska Longevity Bonus payments made to an individual who is a resident of Alaska and who, prior to October 1, 1985: met the 25-year residency requirement for receipt of such payments in effect prior to January 1, 1983; and was eligible for SSI;

(13) Disaster assistance as described in §§ 416.1150 and 416.1151;

(14) Income received infrequently or irregularly (see §§ 416.1112(c)(1) and 416.1124(c)(6));

(15) Work expenses if the ineligible spouse or parent is blind;

(16) Income of your ineligible spouse or ineligible parent which was paid under a Federal, State, or local government program (For example, payments under title XX of the Social Security Act) to provide you with chore, attendant or homemaker services;

(17) Certain support and maintenance assistance as described in § 416.1157(c);

(18) Housing assistance as provided in § 416.1124(c)(14);

(19) The value of a commercial transportation ticket as described in § 416.1124(c)(16). However, if such a ticket is converted to cash, the cash is income in the month your spouse or parent receives the cash;

(20) Refunds of Federal income taxes and advances made by an employer relating to an earned income tax credit, as provided in § 416.1112(c);

(21) Payments from a fund established by a State to aid victims of crime (see § 416.1124(c)(17));

(22) Relocation assistance, as described in § 416.1124(c)(18);

(23) Special pay received from one of the uniformed services pursuant to 37 U.S.C. 310;

(24) Impairment-related work expenses, as described in 20 CFR 404.1576, incurred and paid by an ineligible spouse or parent, if the ineligible spouse or parent receives disability benefits under title II of the Act;

(25) Interest earned on excluded burial funds and appreciation in the value of excluded burial arrangements which are left to accumulate and become part of separate burial funds, and interest accrued on and left to accumulate as part of the value of agreements representing the purchase of excluded burial spaces (see § 416.1124(c) (9) and (15));

(26) Interest and dividend income from a countable resource or from a resource excluded under a Federal statute other than section 1613(a) of the Social Security Act;

(27) Earned income of a student as described in § 416.1112(c)(3); and

(28) Any additional increment in pay, other than any increase in basic pay, received while serving as a member of the uniformed services, if—

(i) Your ineligible spouse or parent received the pay as a result of deployment to or service in a combat zone; and

(ii) Your ineligible spouse or parent was not receiving the additional pay immediately prior to deployment to or service in a combat zone.

(b) For an essential person or for a sponsor of an alien. We include all the income (as defined in § 416.1102) of an essential person or of a sponsor of an alien and of the spouse of the sponsor (if the sponsor and spouse live in the same household) except for support and maintenance assistance described in § 416.1157(c), and income excluded under Federal laws other than the Social Security Act. For information on these laws see the appendix to this subpart.

(c) For an ineligible child. Although we do not deem any income to you from an ineligible child, we reduce his or her allocation if the ineligible child has income (see § 416.1163(b)(2)). For this purpose, we do not include any of the child's income listed in paragraph (a) of this section. In addition, if the ineligible child is a student (see § 416.1861), we exclude his/her earned income subject to the amounts set in § 416.1112(c)(3).

(d) For an eligible alien. Although we do not deem any income to you from an eligible alien, if your ineligible spouse or ineligible parent is also a sponsor of an eligible alien, we reduce the alien's allocation if he or she has income (see § 416.1163(c)(2)). For this purpose exclude any of the alien's income listed in paragraph (a) of this section.

[45 FR 65547, Oct. 3, 1980, as amended at 46 FR 57276, Nov. 23, 1981; 48 FR 33259, July 21, 1983; 50 FR 48576, Nov. 26, 1985; 51 FR 39523, Oct. 29, 1986; 52 FR 8883, Mar. 20, 1987; 52 FR 44971, Nov. 24, 1987; 55 FR 28378, July 11, 1990; 58 FR 63888, 63890, Dec. 3, 1993; 61 FR 1712, Jan. 23, 1996; 61 FR 49964, Sept. 24, 1996; 67 FR 11034, Mar. 12, 2002; 71 FR 45378, Aug. 9, 2006; 71 FR 66866, Nov. 17, 2006; 75 FR 7554, Feb. 22, 2010]