Income Calculations

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The Social Security Administration recently announced that the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will increase 1.3 percent in 2021. The 1.3 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 64 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2021. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on Dec. 31, 2020. The COLA increase also applies for Americans who rely on VA disability, military retirement, and other government benefits. Changes to Medicare for 2020 have not yet been announced.

As U.S. unemployment reaches historic levels, you may see more applicants making ends meet with income from online “gig” platforms such as Instacart, Postmates, or Grubhub. These particular grocery and food delivery services have reported record demand during the pandemic and have announced increases in work opportunities through their platform. Applicants may be using freelance positions with these type of online services that match their freelance labor and local demand as a stopgap solution to paying bills during an economic downturn.

On March 27, the president signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act) as part of the $2 trillion stimulus package intended to stabilize the economy during the devastating coronavirus pandemic. The CARES Act provides for a temporary waiver of required minimum distributions (RMDs) that would otherwise be payable in 2020 for IRC Section 403(a) and 403(b) defined contribution plans, governmental IRC Section 457(b) defined contribution plans, and individual retirement plans.

HUD recently announced the 2020 income limits for the Multifamily Tax Subsidy Projects (MTSP) housing programs effective April 1, 2020. This includes sites with low-income housing tax credits and tax-exempt bond financing. HUD has also issued the income limits for the 2020 MTSP Income Averaging Limits.

On March 3, the Federal Reserve cut its federal funds rate by half a percentage point. It was the first rate cut in 2020 and came in response to the threat posed to the economy by the coronavirus.

When the Fed cuts interest rates, consumers usually earn less interest on their savings. Banks will typically lower rates paid on cash held in bank certificates of deposits, money market accounts, and regular savings accounts.

On Oct. 10, the Social Security Administration announced that the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will increase 1.6 percent in 2020. The 1.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 63 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2020. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on Dec. 31, 2019. The COLA increase also applies for Americans who rely on VA disability, military retirement, and other government benefits. Changes to Medicare for 2020 have not yet been announced.

Determining annual income is an important step in determining an applicant’s eligibility for the LIHTC program. To become income eligible, an applicant’s household gross annual income must be equal to or less than the income limit applicable to your site.

If you have part-time or full-time students living at your tax credit site, it’s important to know how to calculate their income properly. However, be mindful that all student eligibility requirements are met for your LIHTC site before you consider student income in a household. In other words, once you ensure that a low-income prospective household doesn’t violate the student rule, you can focus on income eligibility.

With the rise of gig economy companies such as Uber, Lyft, and Instacart, you may have noticed more applicants earning money from these companies as independent freelancing contractors. When you’re calculating household income, a “freelancer” presents special challenges. Freelancers are self-employed, and their income often can be sporadic.

When recertifying households, you, as the site tax credit manager, probably know that households that go over-income don’t cease to qualify as tax credit units. To continue receiving tax credits on a unit whose household goes over-income, you must follow the available unit rule. The rule requires you to rent the next available unit of comparable or smaller size in the building to a new, qualified low-income household.