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Neighborhood
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Blind Work Expenses (BWEs)
An SSI Earned Income Exclusion
SSI Earned Income Exclusions – Rules for Everyone
First $20 of gross earned income per month disregard, if not used against unearned income.
Additional $65 per month disregarded.
One half of remaining earned income disregarded. What remains is countable earned income.
Countable income is subtracted from SSI base rate to determine the monthly SSI payment.
Blind Work Expenses as Deductions From Earned Income
If the SSI recipient is legally blind, the same earned income exclusions apply and an additional amount of BWEs are also excluded.
As the list below illustrates, the exclusions do not have to be related to the blindness but need only be work-related
Nearly every legally blind SSI recipient who is working will qualify for some BWEs.
List of the Most Common Blind Work Expenses
Federal, state and local income taxes
Social Security and Medicare taxes (i.e., FICA)
Mandatory pension contributions
Meals consumed during work hours
Training to use an impairment-related item or an item which is reasonably attributable to work (e.g., cane travel, Braille, computer course for computer operator)
A guide dog (cost of purchase and all associated expenses, including food, licenses, and veterinary services)
Transportation to and from work
Attendant care services (in the work setting, to get a person to and from work and, in some cases, in the home)
Structural modifications to get a person to and from work
Medical devices, medical supplies and physical therapy
Example: SSI Budget Using Blind Work Expenses
Sam is legally blind, lives alone, and makes $20,220 per year ($1,685 per month)
Sam has the following $415 in monthly expenses that qualify as BWEs: income taxes - $70, FICA - $129, union dues - $10, transportation - $66, guide dog expenses - $30, lunches - $110
Calculation of SSI check
:
Step 1 Total earned income: $1685 Step 2 Base SSI Rate (2007 living alone) $724
Exclusions ($65 + $20) - 85 Counted income - 385
$1600
½ remainder - 800 SSI benefit $339
$ 800
Blind work expenses - 415
Counted income $ 385
Prepared by Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc. - Updated
January 2008
(716) 847-0650 • Work Incentives Hotline: 1-888-224-3272 •
www.nls.org
