20 Percent Income Disregard Not Allowed

Created on: 
Nov 07 2019

Online Processing

See ACES Screens and Online Pages for an example of pages or screens used in this chapter.

 What is a 20% work expense deduction?

When determining eligibility for Basic Food benefits, 20% of an assistance unit’s (AU’s) gross earned income is subtracted from the AU’s countable income. See EA-Z Manual - WAC 388-450-0185 What Income deductions does the Department allow when determining if I am eligible for food benefits and the amount of my monthly benefits?

 When is a 20% work expense not allowed?

If earned income was not reported as required under EA-Z Manual - WAC 388-418-0005 How will I know what changes to report? and WAC 388-418-0007 When do I have to report changes in my circumstances?, the 20% work expense deduction is not allowed when calculating a basic food overpayment.

For information about calculating an overpayment for Basic Food, see EA-Z Manual - WAC 388-410-0030 How does the department calculate and set up my Basic Food or WASHCAP overpayment?

Online Processing

How do I process 20% work expense not allowed using ACES 3G?

From Online Case Actions take the following steps:

  1. From the Case Actions page, under Change of Circumstances, select the Benefit Month [choose the month the earned income was previously unreported] from the drop down list. Click Start Changes.

  2. From the Navigation tree, click Income. On the Income page:

  • Update the existing earned income to include the additional earned income that was reported late.
  • In the Earnings Reported Late field, enter [the amount of the earned income that was reported late]

  1. ​From the Navigation tree, click Review.

  2. If there are no errors on the Review summary, click Eligibility on the Navigation tree.

  3. On the Eligibility Summary page, click the Details link and review the Eligibility Details for each AU. If it all looks correct, Click Confirm Benefits.

  4. Click Commit Changes on the Eligibility Summary page. 

On the Eligibility Details page for the Basic Food AU, the Earned Income field within the Deduction box does not include a 20% Work Expense Deduction on the late reported income amount.

NOTE:  The Earnings Reported Late field only works with income type Earned Income (EI).
EXAMPLE:
1. Weekly income of $200 was converted to $860.00 monthly. The client didn't report moving to full-time employment. Weekly income should have been estimated at $250 weekly. The worker would adjust the weekly amount. This converts to $1075.00 monthly. The user would manually calculate the difference between the two monthly income amounts and enter the difference ($215.00) in the Earnings Reported Late field. The system would only allow the earned income deduction for the original reported income amount of $860.00.
 
2. Non IPV Disqualified (ND) Basic Food AU member failed to report moving from part-time employment to full time for June. The worker budgeted $500.00 monthly income for the month of June. Because the client is now working full time, the actual earnings were $800.00. Upon discovery, the user would make a historical change to the earnings for this job. The worker would change the earnings for June to $800.00 and enter $300.00 (The unreported amount) in the Earnings Reported Late field. When the system recalculates the benefit for June, it will budget the $800.00 earned income and only allow the earned income deduction for the originally reported $500.00. The 20% deduction of $100. 00 would be allowed for the portion of the reported income before prorating all but the ineligible member's share of the income to the eligible members.

 

See ACES Screens and Online Pages for an example of pages or screens used in this chapter.