| (a) Unless otherwise required by federal or state law,
the family income for purposes of determining eligibility and the
parent share of cost means the monthly total of the following items
for each member of the family (as defined in §809.2(8)):
(1) Total gross earnings. These earnings include wages,
salaries, commissions, tips, piece-rate payments, and cash bonuses
earned.
(2) Net income from self-employment. Net income includes
gross receipts minus business-related expenses from a person's own
business, professional enterprise, or partnership, which result in
the person's net income. Net income also includes gross receipts minus
operating expenses from the operation of a farm.
(3) Pensions, annuities, life insurance, and retirement
income, and early withdrawals from a 401(k) plan not rolled over within
60 days of withdrawal. This includes Social Security pensions, veteran's
pensions and survivor's benefits and any cash benefit paid to retirees
or their survivors by a former employer, or by a union, either directly
or through an insurance company. This also includes payments from
annuities and life insurance.
(4) Taxable capital gains, dividends, and interest.
These earnings include capital gains from the sale of property and
earnings from dividends from stock holdings, and interest on savings
or bonds.
(5) Rental income. This includes net income from rental
of a house, homestead, store, or other property, or rental income
from boarders or lodgers.
(6) Public assistance payments. These payments include
TANF as authorized under Chapters 31 or 34 of the Texas Human Resources
Code, refugee assistance, Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental
Security Income, and general assistance (such as cash payments from
a county or city).
(7) Income from estate and trust funds. These payments
include income from estates, trust funds, inheritances, or royalties.
(8) Unemployment compensation. This includes unemployment
payments from governmental unemployment insurance agencies or private
companies and strike benefits while a person is unemployed or on strike.
(9) Workers' compensation income, death benefit payments
and other disability payments. These payments include compensation
received periodically from private or public sources for on-the-job
injuries.
(10) Spousal maintenance or alimony. This includes
any payment made to a spouse or former spouse under a separation or
divorce agreement.
(11) Child support. These payments include court-ordered
child support, any maintenance or allowance used for current living
costs provided by parents to a minor child who is a student, or any
informal child support cash payments made by an absent parent for
the maintenance of a minor.
(12) Court settlements or judgments. This includes
awards for exemplary or punitive damages, noneconomic damages, and
compensation for lost wages or profits, if the court settlement or
judgment clearly allocates damages among these categories.
(13) Lottery payments of $600 or greater.
(b) Income to the family that is not included in subsection
(a) of this section is excluded in determining the total family income.
Specifically, family income does not include:
(1) SNAP benefits;
(2) Monthly monetary allowances provided to or for
children of Vietnam veterans born with certain birth defects;
(3) Educational scholarships, grants, and loans;
(4) Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Advanced
EITC;
(5) Individual Development Account (IDA) withdrawals;
(6) Tax refunds;
(7) VISTA and AmeriCorps living allowances and stipends;
(8) Noncash or in-kind benefits received in lieu of
wages;
(9) Foster care payments;
(10) Special military pay or allowances, which include
subsistence allowances, housing allowances, family separation allowances,
or special allowances for duty subject to hostile fire or imminent
danger;
(11) Income from a child in the household between 14
and 19 years of age who is attending school;
(12) Early 401(k) withdrawals specified as hardship
withdrawals as classified by the Internal Revenue Service; and
(13) Any income sources specifically excluded by federal
law or regulation.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §809.44 adopted to be effective January 29, 2007, 32 TexReg 336; amended to be effective September 8, 2008, 33 TexReg 7568; amended to be effective January 8, 2013, 38 TexReg 155 |
