How to Determine Military Income

340:50-7-29(b)(1) SNAP

340:40-7-11 (b)(1)(A) Child Care Subsidy

340:40-7-11 ITS #4 Child Care Subsidy

Military personnel receive a monthly Leave and Earnings Statement (LES), which serves as their pay verification. The service member has the option of being paid once-a-month or twice-a-month. Use the +TOT ENT amount for gross income.

Refer to Child Care Policy ITS #4 on how to consider income for child care eligibility.

Regardless of how they choose to be paid, for food stamp purposes, the amount shown on their end of month LES is used to determine their monthly countable income. For Child Care purposes refer to Instructions to Staff #4 in Policy 340:40-7-11.  

To clarify how to look at this pay verification, we have provided some of the more common items shown on the LES with their definitions below.

Entitlements

In most instances, the countable monthly gross income will be the amount listed in the Total Entitlements block. This amount is the sum of all entitlements and allowances paid. We include all the entitlements, including most commonly seen BAH/BAS, into their gross pay.

This may include the following:

• Base pay: This is the service member’s basic pay and is determined by rank and years of service.
• BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing): This is pay to the service member when they choose to live other than on the military installation. BAH is based on geographic duty location, pay grade and dependency status.
• BAS (Basic Allowance for Subsistence): This is pay provided for food rations for the service member.
• SAVE Pay: This is a miscellaneous category for several different types of pay, one of which is the FSSA (food program). This pay is usually representative, but the client should declare what this pay is for and the case should be documented.
• Temporary Duty Pay (TDY): This is an advance payment when a person is given a temporary assignment. When the temporary assignment is completed and the person files their paperwork, they may be entitled to even more than the original amount of TDY, if the stay and costs exceeded the original estimate. This payment includes room and food, depending on the assignment.
• Do It Yourself Move Pay (DITY): This is pay received by the service member based on 75 percent of what it would cost the Department of Defense to hire a private moving company to move them. This may occur on a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) or even on the same base, when the person is required to move to other quarters.
• Family Separation Allowance (FSA): Pay received when service members are involuntarily separated from their dependents for more than 30 days.
• Clothing Allowance: This is a reimbursement received once-a-year for the service member’s cost of uniforms. This should not be included in monthly pay.
• Hostile Fire Pay (HFP): This is hazard pay and is received if their assignment is deemed hazardous.
• Child Support/Comm Debt: This is shown as an entitlement for DFAS accounting purposes only. This amount should be deducted from the Total Entitlement Amount.
• Advance Pay: This is an advance on the service member’s future earnings.

Deductions

This column contains information on items such as taxes, Servicemen’s Group Life Insurance (SGLI), Mid-month pay and dependent dental plan.

• Child Support/Comm Debt: This is amount deducted for the service member’s court-ordered child support. This amount is shown deducted twice on the LES for accounting purposes. This allows for the same amount being shown in the entitlements section, which is not actually paid to the member.
• Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB): This is money deducted for the service member’s GI Bill benefit for education. This amount should be deducted from the “Total Entitlement” as this amount is excluded income for food stamp purposes.
• Mid-Month Pay: This amount is shown when the service member has elected to be paid twice a month. It denotes the net amount paid for their mid-month payroll.
• Advance Pay: This amount will appear in the deduction column when the money is being recouped for the advance payment.

Allotments

This column contains information on both discretionary and non-discretionary allotments, which are payments made on behalf of the service member. These allotments might include payments to savings and/or checking accounts, insurance, bonds, payments to creditors for things such as car loans, bank loans or money sent to other individuals. The service member will have papers explaining these deductions.

• Army Emergency Relief Loans (AER): This is a loan the service member can receive from Army Community Services to help in emergency financial situations. The member must agree to an allotment to pay back the loan.

Child Care Subsidy: Instructions to Staff #4 on policy 340:40-7-11.

4. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) counts the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) as earned income, per OAC 340:50-7-29(b)(1).  When the family receives Child Care Subsidy and SNAP, the worker enters the BAH as part of the military person’s earned income in the “earned income” field of the FACS Eligibility Notebook Household tab and enters the BAH amount in the “total diverted income” field E47 of the FACS Eligibility Notebook Child Care tab.  This ensures the BAH counts as earned income for SNAP and is excluded as income for Child Care Subsidy.