How Supplemental
Security Income (SSI)
Work Incentives for
Self Employment Help
You:
The Social Security
Administration (SSA)
counts
Net Earnings from
Self Employment (NESE).
This is your gross
receipts minus your
business expenses X
.9235. This way, a
portion of your net
earnings are counted
in determining your
income from
self-employment.
For self-employment, SSA will work with
you to project or
estimate your
average earnings
from self-employment
over an entire
calendar year. Based
on these
projections, your
monthly SSI check
will be adjusted
based on what you
and SSA project will
be your annual
NESE. It is very
important to get a
good estimate of
what you expect your
annual earnings from
your NESE will be,
because SSA will
retroactively adjust
your SSI check over
the entire calendar
year. If you have
inaccurate
projections, you may
incur an overpayment
or an underpayment
in your SSI check.
When your annual
NESE is determined,
SSA will use a
countable income
formula,
to determine your
SSI monthly payment
amount. The
General Income
Exclusion
of $20 per month (if
not already applied
to unearned income)
and the
Earned Income
Exclusion
of $65 per month is
applied. Then the
remainder of your
earnings are divided
by 2. This means
that SSA counts less
than 1/2 of your
earnings when
figuring your SSI
payment amount.
SSI recipients need
to be aware of
several important
work incentives.
These include:
-
Property
Essential to
Self-Support (PESS)—
PESS excludes
some
resources
that are
essential to
your means of
self support
when your
eligibility for
SSI is
determined. SSA
does not count
property that
you use in a
trade or
business. To use
this exclusion,
inform SSA of
these type of
resources.
-
Student Earned
Income Exclusion
—
This is a
special
exclusion for
individuals who
are under the
age of 22,
regularly
attending
school, and
earning
income.
The amount of
the exclusion
allowed is
$1,700 per month
or a maximum of
$6,840 in 2012.
-
Impairment-Related
Work Expenses (IRWE)
—
In some limited
circumstances,
this work
incentive may
help you during
self-employment
if you have
reasonable
expenses for
items and
services that
are related to
your disability,
that are
necessary for
you to work,
that you pay out
of pocket in the
months you are
working and are
not reimbursed
by another
source. A good
example of an
IRWE deduction
is modifications
to your home if
your are self
employed and the
business is
located in your
home. You may be
able to deduct
this as a
business expense
on an IRWE.
-
Blind Work
Expense (BWE)
—-
If your primary
recorded
disability on
record with SSA
is blindness,
SSA will not
count any earned
income that you
spend to meet
expenses
necessary to
work in deciding
your SSI
eligibility and
payment amount.
These expenses
may even include
taxes that you
pay for your
business. You
may contact an
Indiana Works
benefits
counselor or
SSA
to learn about
the allowable
deductions.
-
Plan for
Achieving Self
Support (PASS)—
A PASS allows
you to set aside
income and/or
resources for a
specified time
for a work goal.
A PASS con help
you establish or
maintain SSI
eligibility and
can increase
your SSI payment
amount. SSA does
not count the
income
and/ or
resources
you set aside
under a PASS
when your SSI
eligibility and
payment amount
are determined.
A PASS should be
submitted on
form
SSA-545
and must be
approved by SSA.
A PASS with a
self-employment
work goal must
include a
business plan.
You may contact
an
Indiana Works
benefits
counselor or the
Social Security
Administration (SSA)
to learn more
about a PASS.
