Countable income is determined by totalling gross income from all the following sources, less all applicable exclusions and exemptions. Applicable exclusions/exemptions are specified in §48.2904 and §48.2905 of this title (relating to Income from Excludable Sources and Income from Exempt Sources).
  (1) Total gross earnings. This includes money, wages, commissions, tips, piece-rate payments, cash bonuses, or salary received for work performed as an employee. This also encompasses pay for members of the armed forces (including allotments from any armed forces pay received by a member of the family group from a person not living in the household).
  (2) Self-employment income (including farm income). For earned income to be considered self-employment, either the client or spouse must be actively involved or materially participating in producing the income.
  (3) Social security and railroad retirement benefits.
  (4) Dividends. This consists of dividends from stocks or membership in associations, and periodic receipts from estates of trust funds. These payments are averaged over a 12-month period.
  (5) Rental income. This includes payments to the individual from the rent of housing, store, or other property, as well as from boarders or lodgers.
  (6) Net income derived from oil, gas, or mineral rights. This can include both lease and royalty payments. These payments are averaged over a 12-month period.
  (7) Income from mortgages or contracts.
  (8) Public assistance or welfare payments. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Supplemental Security Income, and general assistance (cash payments from a county or city) are included.
  (9) Veterans' pensions and compensation checks. This may include money paid periodically by the Veterans Administration to disabled members of the armed forces or to survivors of deceased veterans, subsistence allowances paid to veterans for education and on-the-job training, and refunds paid to ex-servicemen as GI insurance premiums.
  (10) Educational loans, grants, fellowships, and scholarships.
  (11) Unemployment compensation. Unemployment compensation may be received from government employment insurance agencies or private companies during periods of unemployment, and includes any strike benefits received from union funds.
  (12) Workers compensation and disability payments. This includes compensation received periodically from private or public insurance companies for injuries incurred at work.
  (13) Alimony.
  (14) Regular monthly cash support payments from friends or relatives.
  (15) Pensions, annuities, and irrevocable trust funds. Payments may be paid to a retired person or his survivors by a former employer or by a union, either directly or through an insurance company. Periodic payments from annuities, insurance, irrevocable trust fund payments, and civil service pensions are included.
  (16) Income from the client's share of a life estate.

Source Note: The provisions of this §271.55 adopted to be effective January 1, 1998, 22 TexReg 12544; transferred effective September 15, 2023, as published in the August 18, 2023, issue of the Texas Register, 48 TexReg 4523