361.3 Deductions---SSI Related

Income deductions for the SSI related categories apply to individuals who qualify for the aged (TA) or disabled (TJ) categories of MNO.

361.31 Unearned Income Deductions—SSI-Related

Each individual with unearned income can receive deductions for expenses that are needed to be eligible for or to receive the unearned income. These expenses include, but are not limited to, the following: 

55 Pa. Code § 181.131(a)

• Bank fees for an account that is used for the unearned income.
  
  These include the cost of standard checks, annual fees, minimum balance and per check fees, and ATM fees. These deductions do not apply to Long Term Care (LTC) or Waiver cases.
   
• Attorney fees.
• Court costs.
• Transportation costs; including costs of obtaining the unearned income.

This can be the actual cost of public transportation or the costs of using another individual’s car. If an individual uses their own car, the CAO must use the current mileage reimbursement rate established by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) (currently 0.725 cents per mile). Effective: January 1, 2026. These deductions do not apply to LTC or Waiver cases.
 

• Expenses related to receiving rental income (see Section 361.4, Deductions from Unearned Rental Income)

NOTE: Personal income taxes are not expenses that the individual must pay to receive unearned income. They are not an allowable deduction. Alimony payments, even if court ordered, are not an allowable deduction.

After deducting unearned income expenses, the CAO must deduct the first $20 of income that the applicant/recipient group receives in a calendar month The deduction is not applied to income based on need and funded in whole or part by the federal government or nongovernmental agency, such as the Veterans Administration, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Catholic Charities or the Salvation Army.   

 55 Pa. Code § 181.131(b)

The CAO must allow the $20 deduction from the following veterans benefits given to veterans and their dependents:

• Service-connected disability compensation.
• Military retirement pension.

Benefits received on the basis of:

• A special act of Congress.
• Service in the Indian Wars (January 8, 1817–December 31, 1881).
• Service in the Civil War (1861–1865).
• Service in the Spanish-American War (April 12, 1898–July 4, 1902).

If the applicant/recipient group has no unearned income or has less than $20 in unearned income, the CAO must apply the rest of the $20 deduction to the group’s earned income.

361.32 Earned Income Deductions—SSI-Related

Deductions from earned income must be allowed in the following order:  

55 Pa. Code § 181.132

1. The $20 monthly deduction if there is no unearned income, or any part of the $20 deduction not deducted from unearned income.
   
   Reminder: There is only one $20 monthly deduction for each applicant/recipient group.
    
2. $65 per month from the earned income of each employed individual.
3. Impairment related work expenses. This deduction must be given to each employed individual with a disability who:
   1. Is under age 65.
   2. Is age 65 or older and has received MA benefits as an individual with a disability in one of the 12 consecutive months before the individual’s 65th birthday.
   3. Is age 65 or older and it can be shown that the individual should have received MA as a recipient with a disability in one of the 24 consecutive months before the individual’s 65th birthday but was denied.
      
      NOTE: Persons who are blind are not eligible for this deduction. See item #5 for the work expenses of individuals who are blind.
       

Impairment related work expenses include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Payments for attendant care services that are needed when traveling to and from work or while at work.

55 Pa. Code § 181.132(3)(i)

Example: An attendant helps an individual when she gets ready for work and when she comes home from work, which takes about two hours a day. The rest of the attendant’s eight-hour day is spent cleaning the individual’s house. Only 1/4 of the attendant's daily wages are deducted as an impairment related work expense.

• Payment for a medical device that is needed for the individual to work.
  
  Example: Wheelchairs, hemodialysis equipment, canes, crutches, inhalators and pacemakers.
• Payment for a prosthetic device that is needed for the individual to work.
  
  Examples: Artificial arms, legs, and other parts of the body.
• Payments for impairment-related nonmedical appliances and equipment or home modifications needed for employment.
  
  Examples: One-handed typewriters, telecommunications devices for the deaf, tools designed to make it possible for the individual to work even with the impairment and an outdoor ramp for a wheelchair or outside railings or pathways for an individual who needs crutches
• Payments for drugs and medical services needed to control the impairment.

NOTE: A drug or medical service used as an impairment-related work expense may not be used again as a medical expense when determining an individual’s eligibility for MA.
 

• Costs of installing, maintaining and repairing any of the items listed above.
• Payments for similar items and services not listed above that are directly related to the impairment and needed by the individual to work.

4. 1/2 of the earned income that is left over. Each employed individual who is aged, blind or disabled can receive this deduction.
5. Work expenses of an individual who is blind. This deduction is given to each employed individual who is blind and who:
   1. Is under age 65.
   2. Is age 65 or older and has received MA benefits as an individual who is blind in at least one of the 12 consecutive months before the month of the individual’s 65th birthday.
   3. Is age 65 or older and it can be shown that the individual should have received MA as a recipient who is blind in one of the 24 consecutive months before the individual’s 65th birthday but was denied.

The deduction must be allowed for the following expenses:

• Transportation expenses including, but not limited to, the following:
  • A guide dog and the expenses of keeping the dog.
  • Cane travel instruction.
  • Public transportation expenses (including taxi fare).
  • Actual cost, up to 15 cents per mile, for transportation in someone’s own car.
• Job performance expenses including, but not limited to, the following:
  • Braille instruction.
  • Translation of material into Braille.
  • Childcare costs, if not provided in some other way.
  • Equipment needed on the job for housebound work.
  • Lunches.
  • Grammar instruction, if it is related to work.
  • Licenses.
  • Professional association dues that are related to work.
  • Prostheses needed for work, no matter whether they are related to blindness.
  • Optical aids.
  • Readers.
  • Safety shoes.
  • Federal, state, local, FICA and self-employment taxes.
  • Uniforms and care of the uniforms.
  • Union dues.
  • Wheelchair, if it is needed because of disability.
• Job-improvement expenses including, but not limited to, the following:
  • Stenotype instruction for a typist who is blind.
  • Key punch training.
  • Computer program training courses.

Updated January 12, 2026,  Replacing January 8, 2025