The
calculation used to determine how much of your unearned and earned
income is counted when determining your SSI benefit and eligibility.
Step 1: If you have unearned income (for example,
an SSDI benefit), subtract a $20 "General Income Exclusion" from it to
calculate your countable unearned income. If you do not have unearned
income, this exclusion is applied to any earned income.
Step 2: If you have earned income (for example,
wages), subtract a $65 "Earned Income Exclusion" from it (along with
the remainder of the $20 "General Income Exclusion" that you have not
applied to Unearned Income), along with any Impairment Related Work
Expenses, and divide the resulting figure by two to find your countable
earned income. If you have Blind Work Expenses, subtract them after you
divide.
Step 3: Add your countable unearned income to your countable earned income to find your total countable income.