Benefits & Tax Glossary

The words on benefit applications and tax worksheets, defined the way agencies actually use them.

Broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE): A state option that relaxes SNAP's gross income and asset limits.
Earned income: Money from working — wages, tips, and self-employment. Required for the EITC.
Federal poverty level (FPL): The HHS income guideline that most benefit programs use as their yardstick.
Gross income: Total income before taxes and deductions — the starting point for most benefit eligibility tests.
MAGI (modified adjusted gross income): AGI with certain items added back; used for Medicaid, ACA subsidies, and the senior deduction phase-out.
Maximum allotment (SNAP): The largest SNAP benefit a household of a given size can receive — what a household with zero net income gets.
Medicare Savings Programs (QMB, SLMB, QI): State programs that pay Medicare premiums (and sometimes cost-sharing) for low-income beneficiaries.
Net income (SNAP): Income after SNAP's allowed deductions; must be at or below 100% of the poverty line.
Phase-out: The income range where a credit or deduction shrinks gradually to zero instead of cutting off at once.
Provisional income: AGI without benefits + tax-exempt interest + half your Social Security — decides how much of your benefit is taxed.
Refundable tax credit: A credit paid out even when it exceeds the tax you owe — the EITC is the biggest example.
Standard utility allowance (SUA): A fixed utility figure most states use instead of actual bills in the SNAP shelter deduction.