Noncountable Income – TAFDC

For the purpose of determining TAFDC eligibility and grant amounts, certain types of income are considered noncountable for the TAFDC program.

Examples of some noncountable income types include but are not limited to:

• Adoption or Foster Care: All income of any member of the household who receives:
  • State or federal foster care maintenance payments for a child who is not required to be in the filing unit; or
  • Federal adoption assistance when this person is not included in the assistance unit.

    Important: State or federal foster care maintenance payments for a child or children not required to be in the filing unit are noncountable. All other foster care payments are countable. Activities for caring for an adult foster household member do not meet TAFDC Work Program requirements.

• AmeriCorps/YouthBuild: Allowances, earnings, stipends, or payments for participants in YouthBuild, AmeriCorps, or affiliated programs.
• Annuity Payments Made Under the BRAVE Act.
• Census Workers: Earnings of temporary decennial census work.
• Child Support: Up to the first $50 in current child support for a child included in the assistance unit, and up to the first $50 of alimony paid to the family in a month.
• Contributions: Cash contributions from a non-legally responsible person that are restricted for a specific purpose and provide for only a portion of that purpose. 

  • Note: Cash contributions from a non-legally responsible person that are restricted for a specific purpose and cover the entire cost of one of the needs in the chart below is countable income for determining the grant amount only.

• DTA Income: TAFDC cash benefits resulting from a correction of an underpayment or a fair hearing decision, in the month of receipt and the following month. Also, any refunds from a utility company, landlord, or other vendor that were originally paid for with TAFDC or other non-countable funds.
• Earned Income Tax Credits.
• Earnings of Children: The earned income of children under age 16, and the earnings of dependents 16 and older who are full-time high school students and working part-time.
• Educational Income: Financial assistance paid to a student as part of a financial aid package, grant, loan, or scholarship for the purposes of obtaining a degree or certificate from an institution of higher education.
• Employer Compensation for Housing: Employer-sponsored housing compensation, such as relocation benefits and housing subsidies.
• Essential Employee Premium Pay Program Benefits: One-time, lump sum payment of $500 for individuals with low earned income.
• Extended COVID-19 Funeral Assistance: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) financial assistance for COVID-19-related funeral expenses to those who have lost loved ones due to this pandemic through September 30, 2025.
• Family Self-Sufficiency Program: Payments credited to an escrow account under the Family Self-Sufficiency Program (FSS) administered by HUD.
• Food Assistance: The cash value of SNAP benefits, assistance received under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the National School Lunch Act, home produce for consumption by members of the filing unit and their families, and payments under the Nutrition Program for the Elderly (Title VII of the Older Americans Act of 1965).
• Government Settlement Payments: Certain settlement payments, such as:
  • Payments pursuant to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990;
  • Agent Orange Settlement Fund payments;
  • Veterans' benefits payments to a female Vietnam veteran on behalf of a child with birth defects; or
  • Payments pursuant to Public Law 103-286.
• Infrequent/Irregular: Money received infrequently that does not exceed $30 per quarter. For example, a $25 birthday gift is not countable.
• Loans: Any loan signed by the borrower and lender expressing the intent to repay and the conditions of repayment provided it is not meant to meet living costs. Additionally, reverse mortgage loans are non-countable income.
• Lump Sum: The first $600 of lump sum income in the month of receipt.
• Mass Cultural Council’s Creative Individuals Program Grants: A one-time $5,000 grant to artists, culture bearers, and creative practitioners is non-countable income.
• Native American Settlement Payments: Certain settlement payments, such as:
  • Tax-exempt portions of payments made under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act;
  • Funds distributed to or held in trust for members of any Indian tribe pursuant to a judgment of the Indian Claims Settlements or the Secretary of the Interior;
  • Payments to Native Americans pursuant to certain public laws; or
  • Payments pursuant to the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 and the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Act.
• Payments Made Through the Medicare Advantage (MA) Program: The MA Program provides supplemental payments for items and services that are primarily health-related and are not covered under Medicare Part A, B, or D.  MA Program providers may issue these benefits through spending cards that are limited to certain covered items or services, such as food, transportation, utilities, or other items that improve or maintain the health or overall function of the enrollee.
• Payments to Certain Volunteers: Payments and reimbursements to volunteer foster grandparents, senior health aides, and those participating in VISTA or a program established under the Domestic Service Act of 1973.
• Public Assistance Programs: Payments from SSI or State Supplement Program (SSP), the home energy assistance program, and assistance from other social services agencies that do not duplicate TAFDC.
• Reimbursements: Reimbursement payments for education and/or training-related expenses from participation in the Employment Services Program (ESP).
• Senior Citizens Tax Work Off Program: The Massachusetts Senior Citizens Tax Work Off Program is a program that allows seniors (60 years or older) to work for their local governments in exchange for a reduction in their property taxes. Many Massachusetts cities and towns offer a tax work off program, but some do not. See Senior Citizens and Veterans Tax Work Off Income.
• Training Stipends: Training stipends include, but are not limited to, payments from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD)/Commonwealth Corporation’s Massachusetts Workforce Skills Fund stipend program, Department of Career Services (DCS), MassAbility, and non-profit organizations.
  • It is not always clear if someone is receiving a stipend or wages. If a client is participating in a training program and receiving payments, you must ask if those payments are a stipend or wages.
  • To verify payments are a stipend, clients must provide a letter from the training program they are attending confirming that the payment is a stipend. The letter must contain the following details:
    • Training session start and end date;
    • Stipend amount and frequency; and  
    • Signature and contact information of program representative who completed the letter.

      Important: If the client states that they are expected to start new employment upon the completion of the training, you must remind them of their reporting requirements. Not all individuals in training receive stipends. Some receive regular wages. Training stipends must not be confused with wages received for job training.

• Universal Basic Income (UBI) Pilot Programs: UBI pilot program payments that are funded (fully or in-part) by a private or nonprofit organization. (UBI payments that are fully funded by a government source are countable). See Universal Basic Income / Guaranteed Minimum Income Pilot for more information.
• Veterans Tax Work Off Program: The Veterans Tax Work Off Program is a program that allows veterans of the US armed forces to work for their local governments in exchange for a reduction in their property taxes. Many Massachusetts cities and towns offer a tax work-off program, but some do not. See Senior Citizens and Veterans Tax Work Off Income.
• Workers’ Compensation: Any portion of workers’ compensation, property damage, personal injury, compensation to victims of violent crimes, or death settlement award that is not a compensation for lost wages and is spend as intended.
• Young Adult Support (YAS): Young Adult Support (YAS) payments issued by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) affect TAFDC eligibility. An individual who receives YAS payments is not eligible for TAFDC because YAS payments are a type of foster care payment. However, their dependent child(ren) may still qualify for TAFDC if all other eligibility requirements are met.

Note: When a parent receives YAS payments and applies for TAFDC with their child, only the child is included in the TAFDC assistance unit. The parent is coded as an ineligible grantee on the AU composition page (foster care recipient). Because the parent is not part of the assistance unit, YAS payments are considered noncountable income.

All income must be reported and entered. Clients must report all income and the Department will determine if the income is countable.

Income must be entered in either the Other Income Status page as unearned income or the Earned Income page as earned income.