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Fact Sheet on Resources, Income, and Benefits

(To see if you might be eligible for food stamp benefits, visit our pre-screening tool at http://www.foodstamps-step1.usda.gov )

For Households in the 48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia 10/1/07 through 9/30/08. To get food stamps, households must meet certain tests, including resource and income tests.

Resources:

Households may have $2,000 in countable resources, such as a bank account. Households may have $3,000 if at least one person is age 60 or older, or is disabled. Certain resources are not counted, such as a home and lot and the resources of people who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.

Licensed vehicles are handled as follows:

For the following vehicles, the amount of the fair market value over $4,650 is counted:

• One licensed vehicle per adult household member, and

• Any other vehicle a teen-aged member drives to work, school, or job training, or to look for work. 

Vehicles are NOT counted if they are:

• Used over 50 percent of the time for income-producing purposes,

• Annually producing income consistent with their fair market value,

• Needed for long distance travel for work (other than daily commute),

• Used as the home,

• Needed to transport a physically disabled household member, or

• Needed to carry most of the household's fuel or water,

• Worth no more than $1,500, after any loans are paid off.

For all other vehicles, food stamp rules count either the fair market value over $4,650, or the equity value (fair market value minus any loans), whichever is greater. Many States have elected to use their TANF vehicle rules rather than their food stamp vehicle rules, when doing so helps a household meet the resource test.  Check with your local food stamp office to learn which rules it is using for counting vehicles.

Income:

Households have to meet income tests unless all members are receiving TANF, SSI, or in some places general assistance. Most households must meet both the gross and net income tests, but a household with an elderly person or a person who is receiving certain types of disability payments only has to meet the net income test. Households, except those noted, that have income over the amounts listed below cannot get food stamps.

(Oct. 1, 2007 through Sept. 30, 2008)

Gross income means a household's total, nonexcluded income, before any deductions have been made. Net income means gross income minus allowable deductions.

*Increases are higher in Alaska and Hawaii.

Deductions are allowed as follows:

• A 20 percent deduction from earned income;

• A standard deduction of $134 for all households (higher for some larger households);

• A dependent care deduction when needed for work, training, or education--but not more than $200 for each child under age 2 and not more than $175 for each other dependent;

• Medical expenses for elderly or disabled members that are more than $35 for the month if they are not paid by insurance or someone else;

• Legally owed child support payments;

• Some States allow homeless households a set amount ($143) for shelter costs; and

• Excess shelter costs that are more than half of the household's income after the other deductions. Allowable costs include the cost of fuel to heat and cook with, electricity, water, the basic fee for one telephone, rent or mortgage payments and taxes on the home. (Some States allow a set amount for utility costs instead of actual costs.) The amount of the shelter deduction cannot be more than $417 unless one person in the household is elderly or disabled.

Benefits:

The amount of benefits the household gets is called an allotment. The net monthly income of the household is multiplied by .3, and the result is subtracted from the maximum allotment for the household size to find the household's allotment. This is because food stamp households are expected to spend about 30 percent of their resources on food.

(Oct. 1, 2007 through Sept. 30, 2008)

If a household applies after the first day of the month, benefits will be provided from the day the household applies.

The Food Stamp Program is available to all eligible households regardless of race, sex, religious creed, national origin, or political beliefs.

For further information, contact your local or State food stamp office. It may be listed in the State or local government pages of the telephone book, under food stamps, social services, human services or a similar name. You can also find the nearest local office by calling your State's food stamp hot line.

(To see if you might be eligible for food stamp benefits, visit our pre-screening tool at http://www.foodstamps-step1.usda.gov )

Last modified: 02/01/2008