UPSTATE AND NYC MESSAGE   

DSS-4357EL                                                               
WGIUPD                  GENERAL INFORMATION SYSTEM               06/20/01  
                   DIVISION:  Temporary Assistance 

GIS 01   TA/DC023                                                         

TO:  	Commissioners; IM Directors; FS Directors; MA Directors; CAP Coordinators; HEAP Coordinators                                       
FROM:  	Patricia A. Stevens, Deputy Commissioner                           
       		Division of Temporary Assistance                               
SUBJECT:  Treatment of Federal Tax Rebates                                                                                  
                                                                          
EFFECTIVE DATE:  July 1, 2001                                           
CONTACT PERSON:  Eastern Regional Team @ 1-800-343-8859, ext. 3-1469     
                 Western Regional Team @ 1-800-343-8859, ext. 3-0332      
                 Medicaid Bureau of Local District Support, Upstate @     
                   (518) 474-9130 or NYC @ (212) 268-6855                
                                                                           
The U.S. Treasury will issue federal tax rebates to many taxpayers beginning this summer. This GIS informs districts of the implications of these refunds for Food Stamps, Temporary Assistance, Medicaid and HEAP. 

Food Stamp Implications
1.	The federal tax rebates will be excluded as income as non-recurring lump sum payments, but not excluded as resources;
2.	The childcare tax credit will continue to be excluded as income, but not excluded as resources; and
3.	These rebates are subject to offset if the taxpayer has delinquent debt with the Treasury Offset Program (TOP).  Because New York State currently has a moratorium on using TOP, however, we will not make TOP collections against these rebates.

Temporary Assistance Implications

These tax refunds are treated as normal tax refunds under Office regulation 352.23. That is, the refunds are exempt as income but countable towards the $2,000 or $3,000  resource limit. It is not expected that these refunds will impact eligibility for many TA cases.

Medicaid Implications
For all Medicaid applicants/recipients, these income tax rebates are treated as normal tax refunds and are exempt as income in the month received.  They are counted as resources as of the following month. 
                                                                             
HEAP Implications
Tax refunds are excluded as income for HEAP.  However, the uncashed refund check itself, the cash or deposit to a bank account would be counted as a resource.

General Information
Treasury is still working out the mechanics for making payments to taxpayers and IRS will stagger the rebates using the two ending numbers of social security numbers, as follows:

	00  08	  July 23
	09  17	  July 30
	18  26	 August 6
	27  35	 August 13
	36  43	 August 20
	44  51 August 27
	52  59 September 3
	60  67 September 10
	68  75	 September 17
	76  83 September 24
	84  91	 October 1
	92  99 October 8