440-1        INCOME DEFINED

Income is any money that an individual (or the individual's spouse or alien sponsor, if any) receives and can use to meet his or her needs for food or shelter.

Income is either earned or unearned, and different rules apply to each.  The APA program generally follows the income-counting rules of the SSI Supplemental Security Income program.  However, an important difference between the two programs is that the APA program does not count in-kind income when determining APA eligibility or benefit amounts, while the SSI Supplemental Security Income program counts certain income received in-kind.

440-1 A.   EARNED INCOME

Earned income is money that an individual receives in return for working.  Earned income includes the following types of payments:  wages, salaries, tips, commissions, net self-employment income, and payments for services performed in a sheltered workshop or work activities center.

440-1 B.   UNEARNED INCOME

Unearned income is any income that is not earned.  Unearned income includes, but is not limited to, income from annuities, pensions or retirement payments, disability benefits, veteran's compensation and pensions, workers' compensation payments, Social Security payments, Black Lung benefits, Railroad Retirement, unemployment compensation, insurance payments, support and alimony, bingo winnings, gifts and prizes, inheritances, rents, dividends, royalties, interest, income from non-business income producing property, and countable assistance payments such as Temporary Assistance, SSI and Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance.  

Note:

Jury duty fees are disregarded from income as essential expenses of obtaining income (see section 443-3).