HUD has updated the required exclusions from income calculations to be used when determining eligibility and benefits for HUD programs. The updates are fairly minor, but they impact all HUD programs, including public housing and housing choice vouchers administered by public housing authorities, Section 8 properties, and the Section 236 and Rent Supplement programs. All HUD program participants who make income determinations should therefore update their policies and procedures to reflect this update.

The changes from HUD’s last notice, which was published in 2012, exclude the following from the calculation of annual income:

•  Any amounts in an independent development account (or IDA) established pursuant to the Assets for Independence Act;
• Allowances paid to children of veterans of the wars in Vietnam and Korea who are born with spina bifida or, with respect to children of Vietnam veterans, certain birth defects;

Additionally, the notice clarifies for Section 8 programs when higher education scholarships should be excluded from income and modifies the timeline for excluding settlement payments under a case entitled Corbell v. Salazar.