20 CFR 416.1110 – What is earned income
Earned income may be in cash or in kind. We may include more of your earned income than you actually receive. We include more than you actually receive if amounts are withheld from earned income because of a garnishment or to pay a debt or other legal obligation, or to make any other payments. Earned income consists of the following types of payments:
(a) Wages—(1) Wages paid in cash—general. Wages are what you receive (before any deductions) for working as someone else’s employee. Wages are the same for SSI purposes as for the social security retirement program’s earnings test. (See § 404.429(c) of this chapter.) Wages include salaries, commissions, bonuses, severance pay, and any other special payments received because of your employment.
(2) Wages paid in cash to uniformed service members. Wages paid in cash to uniformed service members include basic pay, some types of special pay, and some types of allowances. Allowances for on-base housing or privatized military housing are unearned income in the form of in-kind support and maintenance. Cash allowances paid to uniformed service members for private housing are wages.
(3) Wages paid in kind. Wages may also include the value of food, clothing, shelter, or other items provided instead of cash. We refer to this type of income as in-kind earned income. However, if you are a domestic or agricultural worker, the law requires us to treat your in-kind pay as unearned income.
(b) Net earnings from self-employment. Net earnings from self-employment are your gross income from any trade or business that you operate, less allowable deductions for that trade or business. Net earnings also include your share of profit or loss in any partnership to which you belong. For taxable years beginning before January 1, 2001, net earnings from self-employment under the SSI program are the same net earnings that we would count under the social security retirement insurance program and that you would report on your Federal income tax return. (See § 404.1080 of this chapter.) For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2001, net earnings from self-employment under the SSI program will also include the earnings of statutory employees. In addition, for SSI purposes only, we consider statutory employees to be self-employed individuals. Statutory employees are agent or commission drivers, certain full-time life insurance salespersons, home workers, and traveling or city salespersons. (See § 404.1008 of this chapter for a more detailed description of these types of employees).
(c) Refunds of Federal income taxes and advance payments by employers made in accordance with the earned income credit provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Refunds on account of earned income credits are payments made to you under the provisions of section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. These refunds may be greater than taxes you have paid. You may receive earned income tax credit payments along with any other Federal income tax refund you receive because of overpayment of your income tax, (Federal income tax refunds made on the basis of taxes you have already paid are not income to you as stated in § 416.1103(d).) Advance payments of earned income tax credits are made by your employer under the provisions of section 3507 of the same code. You can receive earned income tax credit payments only if you meet certain requirements of family composition and income limits.
(d) Payments for services performed in a sheltered workshop or work activities center. Payments for services performed in a sheltered workshop or work activities center are what you receive for participating in a program designed to help you become self-supporting.
(e) Certain royalties and honoraria. Royalties that are earned income are payments to an individual in connection with any publication of the work of the individual. (See § 416.1110(b) if you receive a royalty as part of your trade or business. See § 416.1121(c) if you receive another type of royalty.) Honoraria that are earned income are those portions of payments, such as an honorary payment, reward, or donation, received in consideration of services rendered for which no payment can be enforced by law. (See § 416.1120 if you receive another type of honorarium.)