A payment made into an ABLE account constitutes a contribution. Consider the contribution made by the person to whom the funds belong or are due. Exclude contributions to an ABLE account from the income of the designated beneficiary. Excluded contributions include:

• Rollovers from a family member's ABLE account to the SSI applicant, recipient, or deemor’s ABLE account;

• Rollovers in limited amounts from a qualified tuition plan (also called a 529 plan) to the SSI applicant, recipient, or deemor's ABLE account. The ABLE account must be for the same beneficiary as the 529 account or for a member of the same family as the 529 account holder; and

• Contributions in excess of the annual limit if the designated beneficiary worked and did not contribute for the taxable year to any of the following types of retirement plans: – defined contribution plan (within the meaning of section 414(i) of the IRC) with respect to which the requirements of section 401(a) or 403(a) of the IRC are met; – annuity contract under section 403(b) of the IRC; or – eligible deferred compensation plan under section 457(b) of the IRC.



Additional excluded contributions by an employed beneficiary are limited per year to the lesser of:

• The poverty level for a one-person household, as determined for the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the taxable year begins as found in HI 03001.020; or

• The amount of the designated beneficiary's earnings and other compensation (as defined by Section 219(f)(1) of the IRC).

The designated beneficiary is potentially eligible for a tax credit for contributions that he or she makes to his or her ABLE account.

NOTE: The fact that a person uses his or her income to contribute to an ABLE account does not mean that his or her income is not countable for SSI purposes as it normally would be. Income received by the designated beneficiary and deposited into his or her ABLE account is income to the designated beneficiary. For example, an applicant, recipient, or deemor can have contributions automatically deducted from his or her paycheck and deposited into an ABLE account. In this case, include the income used to make the ABLE account contribution in the applicant, recipient or deemor's gross wages.

a. First party contributions A contribution made by the designated beneficiary into his or her ABLE account is not income to the designated beneficiary. However, income received by the designated beneficiary and deposited into his or her ABLE account is income to the designated beneficiary. An individual cannot use direct deposit to avoid income counting. When a payment belonging to or due to the designated beneficiary is direct-deposited into his or her ABLE account: • consider the payment received by the designated beneficiary;

• count the payment as income to the designated beneficiary as it otherwise would be counted;

• consider the designated beneficiary the contributor for ABLE purposes; and

• do not consider the ABLE contribution as income to the designated beneficiary. Examples of payments that might be direct-deposited into an ABLE account, but still are counted as income as they otherwise would be, include: • Wages;

• Benefit payments (Title II, Veterans Administration, pensions, etc.); and

• Mandatory Support payments (child support or alimony). NOTE: Social Security and SSI monthly benefit payments can be directly deposited into ABLE accounts because they are considered acceptable types of financial accounts. For more information see GN 02402.030B.1.