Cafeteria or Flexible Benefit Plans - 7 CFR § 273.9(b)(1) -Count cafeteria or flexible benefit plans as earned income when:

  • An amount for the plan is withheld from the employee’s gross wages even if the employee loses any money left over at the end of the year.
  • A refund is issued to the employee because all the money for benefits covered by an employer-funded plan were not used.


Exclude employer contributions into the plan at the time they are made.


Note:  These benefits are not displayed in the same way on all pay stubs. The best source of information regarding them is the employer. 


Cafeteria or flexible benefits plans use either the employee’s or employer’s money to pay certain expenses, such as dependent care, medical expenses, health insurance, annual leave or sick leave. 


Capital Gains - 7 CFR §273.9(b)(ii) & 7 CFR § 273.11(a)(3) - Count as self-employment income.  


Capital gains are payments received from the sale or transfer of capital assets.


Cash Contributions - 7 CFR § 273.9(b)(2)(ii) - Count as unearned income any cash contributed to the EDG by a non-EDG member.

Exceptions: Irregular income, loans and reimbursements are not counted.


Cash Donations - 7 CFR § 273.9(c)(12) - Exclude cash donations based on need when the EDG gets them from one or more private, nonprofit, charitable organizations. Do not exclude more than $300 per federal fiscal quarter. Count any amount over the $300 limit as unearned income.


Cash Gifts - 7 CFR § 273.9(c)(2) - Count a cash gift as unearned income if it can be anticipated.  

Exceptions:  Cash gifts specifically excluded under Cash Donations, and Irregular Income.


Child and Dependent Care Payments - 7 CFR § 273.9(b)(1)(ii) & (c)(1)(B) - Exclude as income payments made on behalf of the EDG such as, but not limited to Care4Kids payments.


Count as self-employment to the provider.


Child's Earnings - 7 CFR § 273.9(c)(7) & 7 CFR § 273.10(e)(2)(i)(E) - Exclude the earned income of any member of the EDG, age 17 or younger who:

  • lives with a natural, adoptive, or stepparent, or is under the parental control of a household member other than a parent. See Minor Under Parental Control, and
  • is a student at least half time attending: 
    • elementary or high school, 
    • home schooling, or 
    • a GED program recognized, operated or supervised by the State or local school district.


Continue to exclude the earnings during a temporary break in school attendance (like a semester or vacation break), as long as the child will go back to school after break.


Exclude earnings for the month the student turns 18, for both applicant and recipient households.


Do not exclude the income if the student is living alone or living with others who are not exercising parental control.


If it is not possible to separate out the child’s earnings or amount of work performed from that of other household members, prorate the total earnings equally among the working members, and exclude the child’s pro rata share.


Child Support Income - 7 CFR § 273.9(b)(2)(iii) & (b)(5)(i)-(ii) - Count, as unearned income, child support (court-ordered or voluntary), excluding any fees withheld, as unearned income of the child for whom it’s paid.  See Costs Withheld from Unearned Income. Voluntary support payments are payments not legally ordered, including payments made over and above the court-ordered amount.


Count, as unearned income, child support released to the SNAP EDG for a TFA recipient if: 

  • the amount is paid because it was over the TFA grant; or
  • the amount is paid on a regular schedule for months that TFA was not received. 


Exclude child support payments transferred to the Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) to maintain TFA eligibility.  Child support income is excluded effective the date it is assigned. 


Exclude arrearage child support payments as a lump sum (nonrecurring) unless they are received on a regular basis.


Exclude voluntary support payments paid to a 3rd party for an EDG expense.  These are vendor payments and are not legally obligated to the EDG.


Combat Pay - 7 CFR § 273.9(c)(20) - Exclude as combat pay the difference between the amount of military pay the individual made available to the EDG before and after deployment.  Exclude the payments for the duration of the individual’s deployment.


Combat pay is additional payments for members of the United States Armed Forces, including the Reserves and National Guard, due to being deployed to or serving in a designated combat zone (Public Law 108-477).  See Combat Zones for currently designated combat zones.


Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Payments - 7 CFR § 273.9(b)(1)(ii) - Count as self-employment.  CCC payments include the sale of commodities, or commodity certificates for land diversion known as PIK commodities.  Payment is received when the farm product or the certificate is sold.  Count as income in the year the payment is expected to be received.

Exception:  Exclude the value of any commodity if the farmer intends to:

  • use for feed or seed, or 
  • hold the commodity or certificate for more than 12 months.


Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) - 7 CFR § 273.9(b)(1)(iii) & (c)(12) - Count as earned income.


CWT is a therapeutic program of vocational and rehabilitative services under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Unemployed, or underemployed, veterans are placed in a real work environment and paid for their work via payments from the VA or through the employer.


Contract Income - 7 CFR § 273.9(b)(1)-(2) - Count as earned income or unearned income depending on the source of the income.

Examples: Teacher income is earned income, annuity income is unearned.


Contractual income is a set amount paid for a specific period of time. It may be received in less time than the contract covers.

For example: Teachers or other school employees who receive their annual pay in 9 months.


Contract income is self-employment income if the individual works under contract to customers of their business.


Payments to individuals who are called subcontractors for the convenience of the employer are not contract income, they are self-employed.


Cost Withheld From Unearned Income - 7 CFR § 273.9(c)(1)(vii) - Exclude any reasonable income-producing costs withheld from gross unearned income if the money is not legally obligated to the EDG.  “Costs” are the amount actually spent to produce the income, rather than the amount owed.  The net amount remaining after deducting these costs is counted as unearned income.  This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Agency fees withheld from child support or alimony payments
  • Attorney fees withheld from workers’ compensation (WC)



CT Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA) - 7 CFR § 273.9(d)(2)(v) - Count as unearned income.


Crime Victim Payments - 7 CFR § 273.9(c)(10) - Exclude payments received from a crime victim compensation program funded by the Crime Victims fund. (Public Law 103-322).