Military Income
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This subject includes information about income received while serving in the military.
Policy
Military income is countable or not countable based on the type of pay and where the service member is stationed. Countable income is used to determine an income budget. FAA needs to know about income that is not countable to determine whether a budgetary unit’s income is exceeding their expenses. (See Income Eligibility for more information about how FAA uses countable and not countable income.)
Military income includes, and is not limited to, any of the following:
●Base Pay
●Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH)
●Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS)
●Clothing Maintenance Allowance
●Combat Zone Pay
●Family Separation Allowance (FSA)
●Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance (FSSA)
●Special and Incentive Pay
NOTE The acronyms above are normally used on pay statements.
When Stationed Within Arizona
Income received for serving in the military while stationed in Arizona is considered earned income. The gross amount of pay, minus any income that is from a military pay type that is not countable, is countable earned income.
When Stationed Outside of Arizona
When the service member is not a member of the budgetary unit, all of the following apply:
●Any portion of the military income that is available to the budgetary unit, minus any income that is from a military pay type that is not countable, is countable as unearned income.
●When a service member outside of the budgetary unit pays the mortgage, rent, or utilities directly to the company, the amount paid is considered vendor payment unearned income. (See Vendor Payment Income to determine whether the vendor payment is countable.)
For CA, when a service member stationed outside of Arizona is the parent and is only away from home due to active military duty, the service member is a mandatory CA participant and is included in the CA of the budgetary unit. The service member’s gross amount of pay, minus any income that is from a military pay type that is not countable, is countable as earned income.
Not Countable Military Pay Types
Any of the following are military pay types that are not countable:
●Combat zone pay received by a member of the United States Armed Forces is not countable when all of the following apply:
Received in addition to the service member’s base pay
Received as a result of the service member’s deployment to an area designated as a Federally designated combat zone
Not received by the service member before the service member’s deployment to a Federally designated combat zone
●A clothing maintenance allowance received as a reimbursement is considered unearned income and is not countable.
NOTE When a military pay type that is not countable is combined with other military pay that is countable, FAA removes the amount that is not countable from the gross amount and only uses the countable amount for the income budget.
Verification
The participant has the primary responsibility for providing verification. (See Participant Responsibilities – Providing Verification for additional policy.)
For NA, all of the following income is required to be verified before eligibility is determined:
●Reported on a new application, during the interview of a new application, or changes reported before the eligibility determination of a new application.
●Changes after an eligibility determination of a new application (e.g., a renewal application, mid approval contact, etc.) and any of the following apply:
The source of the income has changed.
The income is questionable(g) or unclear(g).
The reported income amount has changed by $51 or more.
The previous verification in the case file is more than 59 calendar days old.
For CA, all income is required to be verified before determining eligibility.
Examples of verification that can be used for military income include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
●Checking account statement identifying a transfer of funds
●A copy of a paycheck stub
●Leave and Earnings Statement (LES)
●A signed statement from the service member providing the income provided they are not a member of the budgetary unit
●Participant statement verification can be used when obtaining documented or collateral contact verification may cause harm or undue hardship(g) for the participant or when all of the following occur:
Attempts to obtain the verification from an acceptable source are unsuccessful. This includes documented and collateral contact verification.
The participant’s statement is not questionable(g).
Legal Authorities
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 7 §273.9(b)(1)
Arizona Administrative Code (AAC) R6-12-503.36
last revised 12/02/2024