2139. Can home energy or support and maintenance assistance be excluded from income?

Home energy or support and maintenance (i.e., food or shelter) assistance received by you (or by any person whose income or living arrangement affects your income) may be excluded if:

1. The appropriate State agency certifies that the assistance is based on need; and

2. The assistance is provided in one of the following ways:

   1. In cash or in-kind by a supplier of home heating fuel or a municipal utility providing home energy;

   2. In cash or in-kind by a rate-of-return entity that provides home energy; or

   3. In-kind by a private nonprofit organization.

Note: You receive "in-kind" assistance, not cash, when you receive a voucher or a third-party check; or when an organization pays cash directly to a provider (e.g., your landlord).

Last Revised: Aug. 4, 2006