INTENT
To define how income is treated when determining program eligibility and the monthly benefit amount.

Income
The income of household members is used to determine program eligibility and the amount of monthly benefits a household unit receives from the IS program. For these purposes, income is money that is available to household members during a benefit period of assistance and includes:

• Employment and self-employment income;
• Room and board and rental income from a principal residence; and
• Any other source of money available to the household unit that is not exempted under Schedule 2 of the ISTHB Regulation. (This includes Fully Exempt Income and Awards, Prizes and Cash Gifts.)

Notes:

• Some income received is not available to the household. See the Available Income policy for details.
• Some resources are not considered income. See the Resources Not Considered Income policy for details.
• Money an applicant or recipient saves following a benefit period of assistance, including IS benefits and exempt income, is counted as a liquid asset unless it is exempt under the Asset Exemptions policy.

Calculating the Monthly Benefit Amount

The household’s monthly benefit amount is calculated by determining the household’s total assessed benefit eligibility and subtracting the household’s total non-exempt income. Income calculations are rounded in accordance with the Rounding Income policy.

Benefit Amount = Total Assessed Benefit Eligibility – Total Non-Exempt Income

The components of this calculation are described below.

Total Assessed Benefit Eligibility:

The household’s total assessed benefit eligibility is the sum of all core income support (Core Essential and Core Shelter) and Continuous and Non-continuous supplementary benefits that household members are eligible for.

Total Non-Exempt Income:

There are two steps to determine Non-Exempt Income:

1. Determine the Net Amount
2. Subtract the exemptions

These steps are described below.

1. Determine the Net Amount:
   

   The Net Amount is determined for each income type available to a household.

   To determine the Net Amount, for each income type, subtract allowable deductions from the gross amount. See the Allowable Income Deductions policy for details.

   Note: The “gross income” amount is the total amount for an income type prior to any deductions or exemptions.

   Net Amount = Gross Amount – Allowable Income Deductions

2. Subtract the Exemptions:
   

   Income exemptions are applied to the net amount of each income type. See the Income Exemptions policy for details.

   Non-Exempt Income = Net Amount – Income Exemptions

To determine the Total Non-Exempt Income, add up the non-exempt income for each income type.

Total Non-Exempt Income = Sum of non-exempt income of each income type

Notes:

• The household is not eligible if the total non-exempt income amount is equal to or exceeds the total assessed benefit eligibility.
• There are some differences in the benefit calculation when determining initial eligibility for income support. See the Income at Intake and the On-Going Assistance policies for details.
• If an applicant or recipient does not access income they are entitled to receive, benefits may be denied, discontinued, suspended or varied. They must also declare all income received during a benefit period of assistance. See the Eligibility Impacts policy for further details.
• Substantiation requirements for different kinds of income are available in the Substantiation and Verification policy.