Income

Income is defined as anything received in cash or in-kind which can be used to meet the recipient’s needs for food, clothing, and shelter. In-kind income is actually food, clothing, or shelter, or something the recipient can use, through sale or trade, to get any of these.

Countable Income

Countable income is the individual’s gross income, plus that of a spouse or ineligible parent, minus any exclusions. An individual’s, or couple’s, countable income is used to determine eligibility and the amount of the CAPI payment. To be eligible, an individual’s or couple’s countable income must be less than the appropriate CAPI rate. The actual CAPI benefit amount is determined by subtracting the countable income from the payment rate.

Exempt Income

Certain items received are not income because they are not, nor can they be used to obtain, food, clothing, or shelter. Additionally, anything received from the sale or exchange of the individual’s personal property is not income. Exempt income includes:

Medical care and services;
IHSS or personal care services provided to the recipient, or money restricted to paying for such services;
Receipts from the sale, exchange or replacement of a resource (conversion of property, such as the sale of a car);
Income tax refunds;
Payments by a credit life or credit disability insurance policy;
Proceeds of a loan (money borrowed or money received in payment of a loan);
Replacement of income already received when lost, stolen or destroyed;
Weatherization Assistance (provided by P. G. and E.); and
Certain non-cash items: any item, except shelter, food or clothing, which would be an excluded non-liquid resource.

Income Exclusions

The most commonly used income exclusions are:

General Exclusion

A $20 general exclusion is deducted from most unearned income. If a portion of the $20 exclusion is not applied against unearned income, it may be applied to earned income. [Refer to “Earned Income Exclusions/Deductions,” page 8-2] and “Unearned Income Exclusions,” page 8-5.]

Earned Income Exclusion