Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Emergency Notice

Courts are closed except for emergency matters until May 4, 2020, maybe longer.
- If you need an emergency 209A restraining order or 258E harassment prevention order, see Asking the court for a restraining order or harassment prevention order during COVID-19
- It is an emergency if your landlord locks you out or shuts off your utilities, See Illegal Eviction
For other public services affected by COVID-19, see our novel coronavirus webpage.

Financial Eligibility

Produced by Patricia Baker and Victoria Negus
Reviewed January 2017

What is financial eligibility?

You must meet the SNAP income tests to get SNAP benefits. There is no asset test for most Massachusetts households. See When do assets count?.

There are three basic steps in the SNAP math:

Your countable gross income must be under the financial limit for your household size.
Your countable net income is determined after allowing certain deductions for shelter, dependent care and some other expenses.
Your monthly SNAP benefit is calculated by subtracting 30% of your countable net income from the maximum SNAP benefit for your household size.

The financial eligibility rules are still confusing. But it’s important to understand these rules so you can advocate for yourself or help others. The questions in Part 3 walk you through the financial rules step-by-step.

Financial Calculation Tools:

Project Bread’s SNAP calculator walks you through a series of SNAP questions to determine whether you are likely to qualify for benefits.

MLRI has an on-line SNAP calculator as well as an Excel spreadsheet. These calculators are useful for quick calculations if you already know the basic SNAP financial eligibility rules.
For a simple one-page SNAP Worksheet, go to Appendix A.