N.M. Admin. Code § 8.215.500.18

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 23, December 10, 2024

Section 8.215.500.18 - INCOME

A. An applicant/recipient's gross countable monthly income must be less than the maximum allowable monthly standard for the applicable medicaid category. Income may be in the form of cash, checks, money orders, or in-kind, including personal property or food. If income is not received in the form of cash, the cash value of the item is determined and counted as income. Income is counted in the month received. Income is considered available throughout the month, regardless of when in the month it is received. The ISD worker verifies and documents all income.

B.Types of income: Countable income is the sum of unearned income or earned income, less disregards or exclusions, plus deemed income.

(1)Earned income: Earned income consists of the total gross income received by an individual for services performed as an employee or as a result of self-employment.

(a) Royalties earned in connection with the publication of the applicant/recipient's work and any honorarium/fees received for services rendered are considered earned income.

(b) The self-employed applicant/recipient must provide an estimate of his/her current income based on the tax return filed for the previous year or current records maintained in the regular course of business. The estimate of net earnings for the entire previous taxable year is prorated equally among all months of the current year, even if the business is seasonal.

(i) Consideration is given to the applicant/recipient's explanation as to why he/she believes the estimated net earnings for the current year vary substantially from the information shown on his/her tax return for past years.

(ii) A satisfactory explanation is that the business suffered heavy loss or damage from fire, flood, burglary, serious illness or disability of the owner, or other such catastrophic events. Documentation must include copies of newspaper accounts or medical reports and must be filed in the case record to substantiate the need for a reduced estimate of current self-employment income.

(2)Unearned income: Unearned income consists of all other income (minus exclusions and disregards) that is not earned in the course of employment or self-employment.

(3)Deemed income: Deemed income is income which must be considered available to the assistance unit and counted in determining eligibility whether or not the income is actually made available. For household member(s) who are not members of the assistance unit but who have a support obligation to the assistance unit, income can only be deemed from a parent to his/her minor child(ren) who live in the same household and from one spouse to the other when both live in the same household.

C.Contributions to the able account:

(1) Contributions from any source to an ABLE account are not considered income to an SSI recipient.

(2) However:

(a) An SSI recipient's earnings contributed to an ABLE account are still considered wages and counted (even if payroll deduction).

(b) Gifts to an SSI recipient to be deposited into an ABLE account are considered as income.

(c) Gifts made directly into an ABLE account are not income.

N.M. Admin. Code § 8.215.500.18

2-1-95, 7-31-97; 8.215.500.18 NMAC - Rn, 8 NMAC 4.SSI.520, 3-1-01; A, 4-1-09, Adopted by New Mexico Register, Volume XXIX, Issue 04, February 27, 2018, eff. 3/1/2018