Got a headache trying to figure out how the gross and net income eligibility standards apply? Hey, we feel your pain. To ease the ache, here’s a five-step checklist to walk you through the possibilities:

1. If all members of the “food stamp household” are on welfare cash assistance, they are categorically eligible regardless of gross or net income.
2. IF any member of the food stamp household is elderly or disabled, there is no gross income test, but the household must meet the net income standard (100% of poverty)
3. Otherwise, if the food stamp household exceeds the gross income standard (130%), it is not eligible for food stamps, regardless of net income. If the household meets the 130% gross income standard, it must also meet the 100% of poverty net income limit to get benefits.
4. In the special situation in which a person over 60 cannot buy/cook food separately because of a permanent disability (SSI standard), that person can have a separate food stamp household if the income of those with that person lives (excluding the income of the elderly and disabled) is no more than 165% of poverty gross income limit the applies to the household with whom the elderly or disabled person resides. (It does not apply to the separate elderly/disabled household, which would have no gross income limit.)