Library: Policy

340:10-3-40. Income disregards

Revised 9-15-22

       Income that is disregarded in determining eligibility for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) includes:

(1) the food benefit allotment under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008;

(2) any payment received under Title II of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970;

(3) educational assistance, such as grants, work study, scholarships, fellowships, educational loans with deferred payment, and veterans education benefits.  When the educational assistance is serving the same purpose as TANF cash assistance, such as when the client receives a stipend for living expenses, the stipend is countable income.  The student's classification as a graduate or undergraduate is not a factor;

(4) loans, regardless of use, when a bona fide debt or obligation to pay can be established.

(A) Criteria to establish a loan as bona fide includes an acknowledgment of obligation to repay or evidence that the loan was from a person or financial institution in the loan business.

(B) When the loan was from a person(s) not in the loan business, the client's acknowledgment of obligation to repay, with or without interest, is required to indicate that the loan is bona fide.

(C) When the loan agreement is not written, the client and lender must complete and sign Form 08AD103E, Loan Verification, or a written statement, attesting that the loan is bona fide and verifying the date and amount of loan.

(D) When the client receives loans on a recurrent or regular basis from the same source to meet expenses, the client and lender must sign an affidavit that states the payments are loans that must be repaid or that payments will be made in accordance with an established repayment schedule;

(5) Indian payments, including judgment funds or funds held in trust, distributed per capita by the Secretary of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) or distributed by the tribe subject to the Secretary of the Interior's approval.  For this paragraph's purposes, per capita is defined as each tribal member receiving an equal amount.

(A) Any interest or investment income accrued on such funds while held in trust or any purchases made with judgment funds, trust funds, interest, or investment income accrued on such funds is disregarded.

(B) Any income from mineral leases or from tribal business investments is disregarded as long as the payments are paid per capita.

(C) Any interest or income derived from the principal or produced by purchases made with the funds after distribution is considered as any other income;

(6) special allowance(s) from the student's trust funds for school expenses made available upon petition in writing;

(7) income from trusts of a child(ren) included in a TANF benefit when the worker determines that funds are to be used for educational purposes for a child(ren).  Any court established trust must be examined to determine if the court restricted the trust for other purposes.  The worker must verify at application and renewal if funds were withdrawn.   • 1  Any funds withdrawn are treated as lump sum unearned income unless it is documented the funds were used for a child(ren)'s educational purposes;   • 2

(8) income from accounts, stocks, and bonds held under the control of a third party when the funds are:

(A) designated for educational purposes for a child(ren) in a TANF benefit even when a child(ren)'s name is on the account and the third-party holder is required to access the funds; or

(B) established to pay for non-elective medical expenses or funeral expenses for an assistance unit member, per OAC 340:10-3-5(a)(4)(D);

 (9) benefits from state and community programs on aging, per Title III and Title V of the Older Americans Act of 1965 as amended by Public Law (P.L.) 100‑175, Older Americans Act Amendments of 1987, and P.L. 114-144, Older Americans Reauthorization Act of 2016.  • 3  Each state and various organizations receive Title V funds.  These organizations include:

(A) Experience Works;

(B) National Council on Aging;

(C) National Council of Senior Citizens;

(D) American Association of Retired Persons Foundation;

(E) United States (U.S.) Forest Service;

(F) National Association for Spanish Speaking Elderly;

(G) National Urban League;

(H) National Council on Black Aging;

(I) National Council on Indian Aging;

(J) Asociacio'n Nacional Pro Personas Mayores;

(K) Associates for Training and Development, Inc.;

(L) American Samoa;

(M) Easter Seals Inc.;

(N) Goodwill Industries International, Inc.;

(O) Institute for Indian Development;

(P) National Able Network;

(Q) National Asian Pacific Center on Aging;

(R) National Caucus and Center on Black Aged, Inc.;

(S) National Older Worker Career Center;

(T) Operation A.B.L.E. of Greater Boston, Inc.;

(U) Senior Service America, Inc.;

(V) SER-Jobs for Progress National, Inc.;

(W) Workplace, Inc.; and

(X) VANTAGE Aging;

(10) unearned income received by a child(ren) in a TANF benefit, such as a needs based payment, cash assistance, compensation in lieu of wages, or allowance from a program funded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014, including Job Corps income and earned income received as wages;

(11) payments for supportive services or reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses made to individual volunteers serving as foster grandparents, senior health aides, or senior companions, and to persons serving in the Service Corps of Retired Executives and Active Corps of Executives;

(12) payments, allowances, or earnings to persons participating in the AmeriCorps State and National program or the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps authorized by the National and Community Service Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12637(d); and other payments to volunteers authorized by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993, P. L. 103-82, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12571, et seq. and administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service;   • 4

(13) the value of supplemental food assistance received under the Child Nutrition Act or the special food service program for children under the National School Lunch Act;

(14) any portion of payments made under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to an Alaska Native that are exempt from taxation under the Settlement Act;

(15) any income of an adult or a child(ren) in the family group living in the home and receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is not considered in determining the TANF benefit.  The Social Security Administration considers the individual's income in determining eligibility for SSI and includes any payment made by Developmental Disabilities Services through the Family Support Assistance Payment Program on behalf of a child(ren) receiving SSI and any other earned or unearned income of the person;

(16) Experimental Housing Allowance Program payments made under Annual Contributions Contracts entered into prior to January 1, 1975, under Section 23 of the US Housing Act of 1937, as amended;

(17) earnings of a child(ren) in a TANF benefit who is a full-time student;

(18) government rental or housing subsidies by governmental agencies, such as Housing and Urban Development received in-kind or in cash for rent, mortgage payments, or utilities;

(19) reimbursements from an employer, the Department of Labor, or the BIA, for out-of-pocket expenditures and allowances for travel, training, meals, or supplies including uniforms, to the extent the funds are used for expenses directly related to such travel, training, meals, or supplies;

(20) Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program payments for energy assistance and payments for emergency situations under Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children;

(21) federal or state Earned Income Tax Credit refunds received after December 31, 2009, as a result of filing a federal or state tax return are exempt as income for 12 months following receipt, per the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Authorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, P.L. 111-312;

(22) payments made from the Agent Orange Settlement Fund or any other fund established pursuant to the settlement in the In Re Agent Orange product liability litigation, M.D.L. No. 381 (E.D.N.Y.);

(23) payments made from the Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund as compensation for injuries or deaths resulting from the exposure to radiation from nuclear testing and uranium mining;

(24) federal major disaster and emergency assistance provided, per the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, P.L. 93-288 as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 5155(d) and comparable disaster assistance provided by states, local governments, and disaster assistance organizations;

(25) interests of individual Indians in trust or restricted lands;

(26) individual Indians' income up to $2,000 per calendar year derived from leases or other uses of individually-owned trust or restricted lands.  Any remaining disbursements from the trust or the restricted lands are considered unearned income;   • 5

(27) payments received under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.  These payments are made to persons of Japanese ancestry who were detained in internment camps during World War II;

(28) payments made to persons because of their status as victims of Nazi persecution;

(29) interest accrued from deposits made by a person into an Individual Development Account up to $2,000;  • 6

(30) stipends paid to students participating in the Indian Vocational Education Program through the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act;

(31) payments made from the crime victims compensation program as amended in Section 1403 of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984, 42 U.S.C. § 10602;

(32) reimbursements made to a foster care parent(s) or a potential foster care parent(s);  • 7

(33) payments as described in 38 U.S.C. § 1823(c) provided to certain persons who are children of Vietnam War veterans;

(34) allowances, stipends, earnings, compensation in lieu of wages, or other payments made for participation in WIOA or other federally-funded grants and workforce training programs paid to persons of all ages and student status;  • 8

(35) child support judgments or arrearage payments received for a child(ren) no longer age-eligible for the TANF cash benefit;

(36) money deposited into or withdrawn from a qualified Oklahoma Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Program account, or an ABLE account in any other state, owned by the designated account beneficiary to pay for qualified disability expenses (QDE), is excluded from income or resource consideration, per Sections  4001.1 through 4001.5 of Title 56 of the Oklahoma Statutes and the ABLE Act of 2014, 26 U.S.C. § 529A.  A person may have only one ABLE account.  • 9

(A) The client must provide documents to verify the account meets exemption criteria before the funds are excluded.  Once the client verifies that the savings or trust account is a valid ABLE account, no further account information is required. 

(B) A contribution to an ABLE account by another individual is excluded unless the contribution exceeds the annual federal gift tax exclusion amount, per 26 U.S.C. § 2503(b).  Any money deposited in the account in the calendar year that exceeds the annual federal gift tax exclusion amount is considered as a countable resource in the amount deposited.

(C) A distribution from an ABLE account that is retained after the month of receipt is excluded in any month when spent on a QDE.  Money withdrawn for reasons other than to pay a QDE is considered as a countable resource for the month of withdrawal.

(D) A QDE is any expense related to the blindness or disability of the individual and made for the benefit of the individual.  QDE's include, but are not limited to:

(i) education;

(ii) housing;

(iii) transportation;

(iv) employment, training, and support;

(v) assistive technology;

(vi) health;

(vii) prevention and wellness;

(viii) financial management and administrative services;

(ix) legal fees;

(x) ABLE account oversight and monitoring;

(xi) funeral and burial; and

(xii) basic living;

(37) income received by a member of the U.S. Armed Forces, per 37 U.S.C. Chapter 5 and Section 273.9(c)(20) of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations that is:

(A) received in addition to the service member's basic pay during combat deployment;

(B) received as a result of the service member's deployment or service in an area designated as a combat zone as determined, per Executive Order or P.L.; and

(C) not received by the service member prior to the service member's deployment to or service in a federally designated combat zone;

(38) economic impact payments received as a result of a national or state emergency are considered as a rebate or advance payment of a credit and are excluded as income and from resource consideration for a period of 12 months from receipt date when determining eligibility for benefits or assistance under any federal program or under any state or local program financed in whole or in part with federal funds, per Section 103(d) of the American Taxpayer Relief Act, as amended, 26 U.S.C. § 6409;

(39) casual and inconsequential gifts, such as Christmas, birthday, or graduation gifts that do not exceed $30 per calendar quarter for each person in the cash assistance unit.  When the recipient claims that the gift is intended for more than one person in the assistance unit, it can be divided among these persons;

(40) financial aid provided to persons by agencies or organizations when the purpose of the assistance does not duplicate the purpose of the TANF assistance, per OAC 340:10-3-39(9);

(41) income received from the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services that is allocated for items not covered in the TANF standards, per OAC 340:10-1-3(e).  Examples of disregarded assistance or services are car fare to a rehabilitation center, extra clothing, lunches, grooming needed for a training program, and any other such complementary payments.

Revised 9-15-21

1. Refer to Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:10-3-6 for trust account rules.

2. Refer to OAC 340:10-3-28 for lump sum payments rules.  

3. In Oklahoma, Title V funds for older Americans are administered by:

(1) Oklahoma Human Services Aging Services through the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP).  SCSEP is a community service and work-based job training program for older Americans.  Services are provided by:

(A) the Association of South Central Oklahoma Governments;

(B) the Oklahoma Economic Development Authority; and

(C) Grand Gateway Economic Development Association; and

(2) National Grantee Easter Seals.  Services are provided by the American Association of Retired Persons project sites in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and McAlester.

4. Refer to OAC 340:10-2-4(c)(2) for on-the-job training. 

5.  (a) The client must provide proof of total disbursements received for the previous calendar year to determine how much, if any, of the income counts.  When the client received more than $2000, the amount over $2000 is divided by 12 to determine monthly countable income.  For example, when total disbursements equaled $2100, the calculation $2100 minus $2000 equals $100.  The $100 is divided by 12 to determine monthly countable income.

(b) When other household members receive disbursements, the first $2000 is disregarded for each household member before any income is counted.

6. Refer to OAC 340:10-3-5(a)(10) for Individual Development Accounts.

7.  An example of a reimbursement is a pre-service training stipend or Kinship Start Up Stipend (KSUS) payment.  Refer to OAC 340:75-7-24.

8. There are numerous programs that exclude income.  Some common examples include income received from Youthbuild, Summer Youth, Job Corps, paid classroom training, and a paid internship through the Public Strategies Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Work Orientation Pilot program in Oklahoma county.  A less common example is the Health Profession Opportunity Grant, per Section 2008 of Title XX of the Social Security Act.  For less common examples, the worker must determine if the program is a federally-funded workforce training program.

9. (a) The Oklahoma State Treasurer is responsible for certifying an achieving a better life experience (ABLE) account.  The program name is Oklahoma STABLE.  The program is administered through a partnership with Ohio's STABLE Accounts.  ABLE account rules state:

(1) only persons whose disability was established before 26 years of age can set up an ABLE account and only one account is allowed per person;

(2) there is no limit to the number of persons who can contribute to the ABLE account; and

(3) upon the death of an ABLE participant, qualified disability expenses and funeral expenses may be paid from the account.  All remaining funds in the account must be paid to the state Medicaid agency to repay costs of care received by the participant up to the amount of Medicaid paid after establishment of the ABLE account.

(b) Once the client provides documents that verify the account is a valid ABLE account, no further account verification is required.  At application and renewal, the worker asks the client if the account is still open and if he or she believes the deposits in and expenditures from the account are in compliance with the terms and requirements of that particular 529 account.  When the client answers yes, no further inquiry is needed.