(a) Earned and unearned income. No less than the amounts of earned or unearned income which were excluded in determining eligibility for or amount of a title XVI supplemental security income benefit must be excludable by a State in the Federal-State agreement for purposes of determining eligibility for or amount of the State supplementary payment.

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(b) Effect of countable income on payment amounts. Countable income of an eligible individual or eligible couple is determined in the same manner as such income is determined under the title XVI supplemental security income program. Countable income will affect the amount of the State supplementary payments as follows:

(1) As provided in § 416.420, countable income will first be deducted from the Federal benefit rate applicable to an eligible individual or eligible couple. In the case of an eligible individual living with an ineligible spouse with income (the deeming provisions of § 416.1163 apply), the Federal benefit rate from which countable income will be deducted is the Federal benefit rate applicable to an eligible couple, except that an eligible individual’s payment amount may not exceed the amount he or she would have received if he or she were not subject to the deeming provisions (§ 416.1163(e)(2)).

(2) If countable income is equal to or less than the amount of the Federal benefit rate, the full amount of the State supplementary payment as specified in the Federal agreement will be made.

(3) If countable income exceeds the amount of the Federal benefit rate, the State supplementary benefit will be reduced by the amount of such excess. In the case of an eligible individual living with an ineligible spouse with income (the deeming methodology of § 416.1163 applies), the State supplementary payment rate from which the excess income will be deducted is the higher of the State supplementary rates for an eligible couple or an eligible individual, except that an eligible individual’s payment amount may not exceed the amount he or she would have received if he or she were not subject to the deeming provisions (see § 416.1163(e)(2)). For purposes of determining the State supplementary couple rate, the ineligible spouse is considered to be in the same category as the eligible individual.

(4) No State supplementary payment will be made where countable income is equal to or exceeds the sum of the Federal benefit rate and the State supplementary payment rate.

(c) Effect of additional income exclusions on payment amounts. A State has the option of excluding amounts of earned and unearned income in addition to the amounts it is required to exclude under paragraph (a) of this section in determining a person’s eligibility for State supplementary payments. Such additional income exclusions affect the amount of the State supplementary payments as follows:

(1) Countable income (as determined under the Federal eligibility rules) will first be deducted from the Federal benefit rate applicable to an eligible individual or eligible couple.

(2) Such countable income is then reduced by the amount of the additional income exclusion specified by the State.

(3) If the remaining countable income is equal to or less than the amount of the Federal benefit rate, the full amount of the State supplementary payment will be made.

(4) If the remaining countable income exceeds the amount of the Federal benefit rate, the State supplementary payment will be reduced by the amount of such excess.

(Secs. 1102, 1614(f), 1616(a), 1631, Social Security Act, as amended, 49 Stat. 647, as amended, 86 Stat. 1473, 1474(a), and 1475 (42 U.S.C. § 1302, 1382c(f), 1382e(a), 1383))[40 FR 7640, Feb. 21, 1975, as amended at 43 FR 39570, Sept. 6, 1978; 53 FR 25151, July 5, 1988]