Financial Account Deposits and Withdrawals
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This section is about how certain financial account types are treated as income, including Achieving a Better Life Experience, educational savings accounts, and limited liability company business accounts.
Policy
FAA treats money deposited or withdrawn for certain financial accounts as income. For more information about this type of income, see each of the following:
Achieving a Better Life Experience
ABLE establishes saving accounts with funds for persons with a disability. The participant can use the funds towards a plan or contract for disability-related expenses.
FAA considers the funds deposited into or withdrawn from an ABLE account as not countable unearned income.
ABLE savings accounts meet the requirements in Section 529A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
AZ ABLE administers Arizona's ABLE plan, and other states may have a different name for ABLE.
Arizona has partnered with the Ohio Treasurer's Office to offer STABLE Accounts to qualified beneficiaries.
For treatment of an ABLE as a resource, see Savings Accounts.
Educational Savings Account
Payments from educational savings accounts established to meet qualified higher education expenses are not countable as unearned income, including any of the following.
●A 529 educational savings account.
●A 530 educational savings account.
(For treatment as a resource, see Educational Savings Accounts - FIAC)
Health Savings Account
A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a tax-exempt account used to pay for qualified medical expenses.
FAA considers the funds withdrawn from an HSA as not countable unearned income.
For treatment of an HSA as a resource, see Savings Accounts.
Limited Liability Company Business Account
When money is withdrawn from a limited liability corporation(g) business account to pay for personal expenses and the business has elected to be treated as a corporation, the money is countable as earned income.
Personal expenses include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
●Car payment
●Entertainment
●Food
●Homeowner's insurance
●Mortgage payment
●Utility payment
When the account is an Individual Development Account (IDA), see IDA for more information.
Countable income is used to determine an income budget. (See Income Budgeting to see how FAA determines the income budget.) FAA needs to know about income that is both countable and 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.)
Procedures
To help identify an ABLE savings account, all of the following are applicable:
●All AZ ABLE accounts have the word "ABLE" in the title.
●For a list of other state ABLE accounts, see the ABLE National Resource Center website.
When the participant is present, have them sign the Authority to Release (FAA‑1765A) form to contact any companies or businesses involved. The FAA-1765A can be faxed or emailed to the participant's employer when it is not possible to use the Application for Benefits (FAA-0001A) or the HEAplus Authority to Release signed statement.
Verification
System interface and the case file(g) must be reviewed before verification is requested. No additional verification is needed when AZTECS interface or HEAplus hubs have verified the information.
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 financial accounts include, and are not limited to, any of the following:
●Assistance payments records
●Benefit award letters from agencies
●Bank records
●Court records or court orders
●Insurance policies
●Statement from the agency or payer providing the income
●Participant statement verification when one of the following occur:
Obtaining documented or collateral contact verification may cause harm or undue hardship(g) for the participant.
When all of the following occur:
●Other attempts to obtain the verification have failed. This includes documented and collateral contact verification.
●The participant has requested assistance from FAA.
●The worker has evaluated the request for assistance and cannot obtain the verification from another acceptable source.
●The participant statement is not questionable(g).
●Bookkeeping records
AZTECS Keying Procedures
Key the appropriate AZTECS screen for any of the following:
●Key the OX Unearned Income Code in the INC TYPE field on UNIN for any of the following:
Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts
Health Savings Account (HSA) withdrawals
Educational accounts
●Key the OT Earned Income Code in the INC TYPE field on EAIC for limited liability company business accounts.
Document the case file(g) thoroughly to support keyed codes, amounts, and frequencies. See the AZTECS Data Entry Guide for instructions on keying the AZTECS income screens.
NOTE Documentation must support determinations of eligibility and benefit level. Document in sufficient detail to ensure that any reviewer can assess whether the determination is reasonable and accurate. Include specific information regarding the reason the income is determined to be normal. (See Budgeting Income Documentation Requirements for additional information.)
Legal Authorities
Public Law 107-16
last revised 04/08/2024