Each eligible employed member of the TANF budget group is allowed certain income deductions for expenses related to employment. See Section 160.211, Eligibility for the TANF Earned Income Disregard. 55 Pa. Code § 183.94
Deductions from earned income are:
1. The Earned Income Disregard (EID) (see Section 160.21)
2. Work Expense Deduction (WED) (see Section 160.22)
3. Personal expenses (see Section 160.23).
The CAO will allow the deductions in the order shown above.
The CAO will apply a continuous 50 percent EID to each eligible employed client's earned income. See Section 160.211, Eligibility for the TANF EID.
The CAO will deduct the EID from the gross earned income.
The EID is allowed only for an employed person who is:
55 Pa. Code § 183.94(1) & 55 Pa. Code § 183.94(2)
receiving TANF;
a sanctioned, non-eligible, or disqualified member of a budget group that is receiving TANF;
an applicant who has received TANF in one of the four calendar months before application; Or
NOTE: Applicants receiving Transitional Cash Assistance (TCA) or Diversion in one of the four calendar months before application are not considered to be receiving TANF.
an applicant who has not received TANF in one of the four calendar months before application and who was determined eligible through the earned income disregard eligibility test.
See Section 104.15 when determining who is an applicant in these situations.
To apply the EID eligibility test to applicant budget groups that have not received TANF in any of the previous four calendar months, the CAO will:
1. Subtract the first $90 from the gross earned income of each budget group member.
2. Subtract the personal expense deduction. (See CAH 160.23)
3. The result is the net earned income.
4. Subtract from unearned income any expenses that the client must pay in order to receive the income. See Section 160.3, TANF Unearned Income Deductions.
5. The result is net unearned income.
6. Combine the total net earned and net unearned income of all budget group members.
7. Compare the budget group’s total net income to the Standard of Need in Chapter 168, Determining Eligibility and Payment Amount, Appendix A. If the income is greater than or equal to the Standard of Need for the budget group, the whole budget group is ineligible.
8. If total net income is less than the Standard of Need, allow the earned income disregard for each budget group member who is otherwise eligible.
If non-mandatory budget group member, who has not received TANF in any of the previous four months is being added to a budget group that is active or has been active within the past four calendar months, the CAO will:
1. Subtract the personal expense deduction, if applicable (See CAH 160.23), plus a standard deduction of $90 from the applicant's gross earned income.
2. Subtract from unearned income any expenses the applicant must pay in order to receive the income. See Section 160.3, TANF Unearned Income Deductions.
3. Add the applicant's net earned and net unearned income.
4. Combine the applicant's total net income with the countable net income of the other budget group members.
5. Compare the total net income with the Standard of Need. If the net income is greater than or equal to the Standard of Need, the applicant is ineligible for the earned income disregard.
6. If the applicant’s income after application of the allowable deductions is less than the Standard of Need for the budget group, allow the earned income disregard from the client's income.
NOTE: A request to add a mandatory budget group member to the budget group is not an application. If the member being added is employed, the individual is not subject to the earned income disregard eligibility test.
160.22 Work Expense Deduction (WED)
The Work Expense Deduction (WED) project is designed to assist Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Extended TANF (ETANF) families with an adult who is working by applying a $200 deduction to eligible households.
The WED is an allowed deduction to account for increased expenses incurred when employed. It increases the working families available monthly net income to improve their ability to transition from TANF to self-sufficiency by reducing the financial burden experienced with the loss or reduction of other benefits. With the implementation of the WED, the $50 WER payment was discontinued. (See Work Expense Reimbursement CAH 137.4)
TANF State Plan
TANF and ETANF families with a family member who is working and whose earned income, including income from self-employment, is used to determine the cash grant and eligible for the Earned Income Disregard will also be eligible for the $200 WED.
*Note - Sanctioned, excluded, and disqualified members are eligible for the WED when they are eligible for the EID.
A family may be eligible for the WED at application or when earned income is added to an open TANF or ETANF budget. The CAO will deduct $200 from each budget member’s earned income when the individual is eligible for the Earned Income Disregard (EID). The WED is not used in the determination of eligibility for EID. The WED is deducted from the remaining earned income after the EID deduction in determining the monthly benefit amount.
The CAO will do the following when eligibility and benefit amount is authorized:
1. Determine
eligibility for the EID for each household member with earned income (including
self-employment) using CAH
160.211 Eligibility for the TANF Earned Income Disregard.
2. If
the individual is eligible for the EID, calculate and subtract the EID
and subsequently subtract the $200 WED.
3. If
an individual is not eligible for the EID, the CAO will not deduct the
WED.
If there is a change in eligibility, or benefit amount for a budget, the system will send the corresponding notice. The notice will list the WED in the Cash eligibility calculation table when there is a decrease in benefit amount, or an individual is determined ineligible due to income.
Deduct the cost of care for an incapacitated adult from the earned income of the TANF client if:
the incapacitated adult lives with the client and receives TANF.
no other sound plan can be made for their care.
The amount of the deduction will be the actual cost up to a maximum of:
$175 per month for each incapacitated adult when the client works full-time;
$150 per month for each incapacitated adult when the client works part-time.
Revised April 14, 2023; Replacing April 9, 2018