WAG 08-04-04-v

The following types of income are exempt by Federal Statute.

  • Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) payments, deleted text received as part of an income tax refund.
  • Reimbursements from the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policy Act of 1970.
  • Any payment to volunteers in programs under Title II of the 1973 Domestic Volunteer Services Act. Examples of these programs include RSVP and Foster Grandparents.
  • Payments made under Title I of the 1973 Domestic Volunteer Services Act (AmeriCorps VISTA, University Year for Action and Urban Crime Prevention Program) are exempt if the person was receiving SNAP benefits or cash benefits from TANF, GA, or AABD at the time they joined AmeriCorps VISTA.
  • A temporary interruption in SNAP benefits does not change the status of exempt AmeriCorps VISTA payments.
  • Earnings, allowances, and payments received under Title I of the National and Community Service Act of 1990. The programs in the act are:
    • Serve America,
    • Higher Education Innovative Projects,
    • American Conservation and Youth Corps Programs,
    • Community Service Programs, and
    • AmeriCorps State/National.
  • Any disaster relief payment made by federal, state, or local government, or by a disaster assistance group.
  • Money payments or allowances, including tax credits, made to a SNAP unit for energy assistance. This includes:
    • direct Illinois Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) payments made to the unit and indirect payments to the energy supplier from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), and
    • utility payments from a Public Housing Authority, whether paid directly to the unit or to the utility company.
  • Income received through Title I of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), including Job Corps payments, except for certain on-the-job training payments. On-the-job training payments made to persons of any age received under the Summer Youth and Training Program (Title II-B). See PM 08-04-01-f for nonexempt on-the-job training programs.
  • Payments received from the Community Service Employment Program funded under Title V of the Older Americans Act (such as the Experience Works Program, formerly called Green Thumb).
  • Payments to certain United States citizens of Japanese ancestry and resident Japanese aliens and certain eligible Aleuts made under P.L. 100-383.
  • Payments under P.L. 103-286 to persons due to their status as victims of Nazi persecution.
  • Payments made to veterans who receive an annual disability payment or to the survivors of deceased veterans who receive a onetime, lump sum payment from the Agent Orange Settlement Fund or any other fund referring to Agent Orange product liability under P.L. 101-201.
  • Money received from the Social Security Administration under a Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS).
  • Payments received under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
  • Additional payments received by military personnel for serving in a combat zone.
  • Income derived from certain submarginal land of the United States that is held in trust for certain Indian tribes.
  • Income received from the disposition of funds to the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians.
  • Payments by the Indian Claims Commission to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Indian Nation or the Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation.
  • Payments to the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation or any of their members made under the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980.
  • Payments of relocation assistance to members of the Navajo and Hopi Tribes made under P.L. 93-531.
  • Matched funds that are deposited into an Individual Development Account (IDA) from a unit of state or local government or through contributions made by a not-for-profit entity are exempt income in determining eligibility or benefit level for SNAP. Funds deposited into the IDA remain exempt as long as the IDA is maintained.

    Income earned by a client that is deposited into an IDA is exempt income for SNAP. See PM 07-01-16-k for the definition of an IDA. 

  • Payments made through the Victims of Crime Act of 1984.
  • Payments made under the YouthBuild Program (P.L. 102-550).
  • Weekly Federal Additional Compensation Payments for Unemployment Compensation payments authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
  • Making Work Pay (MWP) tax credit, authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, whether received with wages or as part of an income tax refund. See PM 07-04-09  and WAG 07-04-09.