See the complete list of exclusions.  When a previously exempted resource no longer is exempt, it will count as a resource under the resource rules (which shouldn’t apply anymore because of Modified Categorical Eligibility.)

Certain things did not count (are excluded) as resources. These included the home the food stamp household lives in, household goods, income producing property, and Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC). Be sure to check MPP §63-501.3 and 7 C.F.R. §273.8) for any changes or updates to the current list of exclusions, listed below.

A trust fund was excluded only if it is an irrevocable trust, as described at MPP §63-501.3(i)(1) and 7 C.F.R. §273.8(e)(8). (See the section of this guide about the definition of resources for more information.) Anything specifically excluded for food stamp purposes by federal statute (as specified in MPP Section 63-507) is also excluded. [MPP § 63-501.3(l).] Food Stamp Simplification — first implemented in California in All County Letter 03-18 (April 29, 2003) — also resulted in all payments excluded as income in CalWORKs {TANF] (see MPP §44-111, except not subsections .222, .223, .224, .23 and .43) as being excluded from food stamps. [MPP §63-502.3(q).] This includes state work-study funds.

Excluded resources

The following were the things that are excluded (do not count) as resources:

• The house in which the household lives and all the land it sits on. [MPP § 63-501.3(a); 7 C.F.R. §273.8(e)(1).] This includes the vacant lot where the household plans to build a house, if it does not already own a house. [MPP §63-501.3; 7 C.F.R. §273.8(e)(1).]

• The household’s personal things and household goods such as clothes, tables, chairs, beds and appliances. [MPP § 63-501.3(b); 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(2).]
• Burial plots. [MPP § 63-501.3(b), 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(2).]
• The cash or face value of any life insurance policy or pension fund. [MPP § 63-501.3(b); 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(2).] Accessible Keogh plans (those in which the household has a contractual relationship) and IRAs are not excluded as resources. [MPP § 63-501.11 and .3(b); 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(2).]
• Resources whose equity value is less than $1500. [MPP § 63-501.3(d); 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(2).]
• All cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles. [MPP § 63-501.3(c).] (See the section of this guide explaining vehicles don’t count for food stamps in California for details, and be mindful that the CalWORKs [TANF] program may count these vehicles even if the food stamp program does not.)
• Property the household uses to make money, such as renting a house for a fair rent or farming land. [MPP § 63-501.3(e); 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(4), (5).] This includes property essential to employment or self-employment, as well as the resources of a business (such as checking or savings accounts, whether separate or co-mingled, as long as they are identifiable), as long as the resources are necessary to produce the buisness income. [MPP § 63-501.] Land and other property used in farming are not counted as resources for at least one year after a household stops farming. [MPP § 63-501.3(e); 7 U.S.C. § 2014(e)(4).]
• Property (such as tools, equipment, livestock and buildings) needed for the employment or self-employment of a household member. [MPP § 63-501.3(f); 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(5).] Resources essential to self-employment in farming are excluded from consideration as resources for at least one year after a household stops farming. [MPP § 63-501.3(f)(3); 7 U.S.C. § 2014(e)(4).]
• The value of an installment contract to sell property, if the contract produces income consistent with market value. [MPP § 63-501.3(g); 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(6).]
• Payments from the government to help repair the home after a disaster, if the household is legally required to use the money on their home. [MPP § 63-501.3(h); (7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(7).]
• Things that the household cannot sell or use for its immediate needs. The regulations give specific examples, including money in a trust fund, the housing security deposits; property in probate or which the household is trying to sell. [MPP § 63-501.3(i); 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(8).]
• Energy assistance payments. [MPP § 63-502(b)(2)(F) (treated as excluded income); 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(14).]
• Resources, such as those of students or self-employed persons, which have been prorated and counted as income. [MPP § 63-501.3(j), 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(9).]
• Funds or assets of, or payments to Native American tribal members are excluded as resources (and/or income) if specifically excluded by any other federal law at MPP § 63-506(b). [MPP § 63-501.3(k); 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(11).]
• Anything that federal law says cannot be counted against food stamps, such as WIC (Welfare, Infants and Children) benefits, some payments under other laws, and court settlements for Native Americans. [MPP § 63-501.3(l), 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(11).]
• Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), so long as the recipient was getting food stamps when the EITC was received. The money can be excluded for up to 12 months, so long as the person keeps getting food stamps without interruption. [MPP § 63-502.3(m); 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(12).]
• Federal Tax Refunds: The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (P.L. l l l-312) excludes Federal tax refunds received after December 31, 2009 as income and as resources for a period of 12 months from receipt.  Administrative Notice 11-13. (California currently has no resources limited under the broadened Modified Categorical Eligibility rules. See ACL 11-11.
• The resources of applicants who are residents of domestic violence shelters, when the abuser co-owns the property and access to the property would require the abuser’s consent. [MPP § 63-501.3(n); 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(d).]
• Property that has a lien on it from a business loan, if the creditor that has the lien will not let the household sell the property. [MPP § 63-501.3(o), 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(15).]
• Property the household needs in order to use or maintain a car, truck, van or the like needed to make money. [MPP § 63-501.3(q), 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(16).]
• In the Food Stamp Program, “public assistance” cash aid is different from CalWORKs [TANF] cash aid. In California, the primary public assistance programs are the varied last-resort “general assistance” or “general relief” programs administered by local counties to assist individuals who do not qualify for any other type of aid. [Cites]
• The resources of any household member receiving public assistance (i.e., cash aid like general assistance). If the resource is jointly held by a food stamp household member who is receiving public assistance and a food stamp household member who is not, only the amount counted in determining the public assistance eligibility is excluded. [MPP § 63-501.3(p); 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(17).] This provision would exclude “Assets for Independence” IDA restricted savings under The Assets for Independence Act.
• Funds in CalWORKs Restricted Accounts (defined in MPP 89-130). [MPP § 63-501.3(r)].
• Land the household owns together with a Native American tribe and land that it cannot sell without the permission of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). [MPP § 63-506(a); 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(e)(10).]
• Things that belong to someone who is not in the food stamp household, unless that person is was excluded from the food stamps household because of an Intentional Program Violation (fraud), failure to comply with work requirements, status as an immigrant who cannot get food stamps, or failure to apply for or provide a social security number. [MPP § 63-503.44, 503.45; 7 C.F.R. § 273.11(c), (d).]