Cal. Civ. Code § 6.05

Determination of Gross Household Income and Net Household Income

In Force
Verified 10/26/2026 · Next check 11/2/2026
effective 9/30/2026MassachusettsPublic Housing

Operative Text

Cal. Civ. Code § 6.05
(1) The Computation of Net Household Income. Rent is a percentage of net Household income,
           as provided in 760 CMR 6.04(1), (25%, 27%, 30%, or 32% except as provided in
           760 CMR 6.04(1)(c) and (d)). In order to determine net Household income, the LHA shall first
           determine gross Household income. Gross Household income includes the income items set out
           in 760 CMR 6.05(2) and excludes the non income items set out in 760 CMR 6.05(3). The
           deductions set out in 760 CMR 6.05(4) are deducted from gross Household income so computed,
           and the result is net Household income.

           (2) Inclusions in Gross Household Income. Gross Household income shall be the total of the
           following items:
               (a) The full amount, before any payroll deductions, of wages and salaries, overtime pay,
               commissions, fees, tips and bonuses, and other compensation for personal services.
               (b) Income from the operation of a business or profession by each self-employed Household
               Member after deduction for the ordinary and necessary expenses of the business or
               profession. The deductible expenses of the business or profession shall not exceed 85% of
               the gross receipts of the business or profession. Deductible expenses of the business or
               profession shall not include rent or Utilities paid for the Tenant's unit if the business or
               profession is located in the Tenant's unit.
               (c) Income of any kind from real or personal property including rent, dividends, and interest.
               Amortization of capital indebtedness and depreciation shall not be deducted in computing
               net income. Any realization of taxable capital gain on sale or transfer of an investment or
               other real or personal property shall be included in income. If the Household has marketable
               real or personal property with a fair market value exceeding $25,000 (excluding any
               automobile used as the primary means of transportation by one or more Household
               Members), gross Household income shall include the higher of actual income derived from
               any such property or a percentage of the value of such property. This percentage shall be one
               percent or as otherwise determined from time to time by EOHLC and posted on EOHLC's
               website.
               (d) Periodic payments received from social security, annuities, retirement funds, and
               pensions, individual retirement accounts, and other similar types of periodic payments of
               retirement benefits, excluding non taxable amounts which constitute return of capital and are
               specifically identified as such by payer.
               (e) Payments in lieu of earnings, such as unemployment compensation; Supplemental
               Security Income (SSI); Social Security Disability Income (SSDI); and benefits in lieu of
               earnings under disability insurance, health and accident insurance or workers' compensation.
               An unallocated lump sum settlement or similar payment all or partly on account of lost wages
               resulting from an injury shall be equitably allocated to reflect a monthly payment on account
               of lost wages for the period during which the recipient is likely to be disabled from the injury
               and the recipient will be deemed to receive such a monthly payment each month during the
               continuance of his or her disability until the allocated funds are deemed exhausted. Payments
               from the government, subsequently reimbursed to the government, are not to be included as
               income.

(f) Contributions or gifts received from non Household Members that are more than $5,000
              in the aggregate in a 12-month period, provided that only the amount of the contributions or
              gifts that exceeds $5,000 in the aggregate shall be included.
              (g) Regular payments of public assistance, excluding food stamps.
              (h) Payments received for the support of a Household Member, such as payments for child
              support, foster care, social security, or public assistance, including payments nominally made
              to a Household Member for his or her support but controlled for his or her benefit by another
              Household Member who is responsible for his or her support.
              (i) Lottery winnings, gambling winnings and similar receipts.
              (j) Receipts of principal and income from the trustee of a trust, and receipts of income from
              the executor or administrator of an estate or from some other fiduciary.
              (k) Alimony or payment for separate support.

           (3) Exclusions from Gross Household Income. Gross Household income shall not include any
           of the following items:
               (a) Contributions or gifts received from non-Household Members totaling $5,000 or less
               in the aggregate in a 12-month period.
               (b) Amounts (including lump sums), which are specifically received for the cost of medical
               care, or which are made to compensate for personal injury or damage to or loss of property
               under health, accident or liability insurance, worker's compensation, judgments or
               settlements of claims, insofar as these payments do not compensate for loss of income for
               a period when the recipient was or would be a Tenant.
               (c) Amounts of educational scholarships or stipends for housing paid by a non-Household
               Member for a student at an educational institution, including amounts paid for these purposes
               to part time students, whether paid directly to the student or the educational institution, and
               amounts paid by the United States Government to a veteran for use in paying tuition, fees,
               or the cost of books, to the extent that such payments are so used.
               (d) The special pay to a member of the armed forces on account of service in a war zone.
               (e) Relocation payments made pursuant to state or federal law.
               (f) Payments received from the Social Security Administration program known as the Plan
               to Attain Self Sufficiency (PASS), provided that recipient fulfills all PASS program
               requirements.
               (g) The value of food stamps.
               (h) Payments received by participants in programs pursuant to the Domestic Volunteer
               Service Act of 1973, 42 U.S.C. § 4950, et seq., or stipends received by volunteers for
               activities performed on behalf of a tax-exempt non-profit organization or foundation or an
               accredited educational or vocational institution. The amount of stipends to volunteers that
               shall be excluded may not exceed the total amount which would have been earned by a
               person working 20 hours per week at the minimum wage specified in M.G.L. c. 151, § 1.
               (i) The increased amount of income earned from employment by one or more Household
               Members if the increase in earned income otherwise would result in a rent increase provided
               that:
                   1. the Household's income has been derived, at least in part, from Transitional Aid to
                   Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC), Emergency Assistance to the Elderly,
                   Disabled and Children Program (EAEDC), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social
                   Security Disability Income (SSDI) or successor program for each of the previous 12
                   months;
                   2. the Household's increased earned income has been accompanied by a decrease in the
                   amount of TAFDC, EAEDC, SSI, SSDI or public assistance from a successor program;
                   and
                   3. at the commencement of this exclusion the recipient of such public assistance would
                   have remained eligible for such assistance if the income had not been earned. This
                   earned income exclusion shall be in effect for one continuous 12-month period,
                   regardless of any changes or gaps in employment during that period. This exclusion may
                   be exercised by the Tenant when a Household Member has procured either full or part
                   time employment. It shall be within the Tenant's sole discretion whether or when to
                   exercise this one time earned income exclusion.

(j) Payments for a Household Member in association with participation in a bona fide
              program providing training for employment, approved by EOHLC or sponsored or
              administered by a government agency, to cover costs related to training or employment, such
              as transportation, program fees, books, or child care (during training). This exclusion shall
              apply to wages received through programs for training for employment, such as wages from
              on the job training, or apprenticeship, for a period not to exceed two years. This amount of
              the exclusion shall be limited to the amount of wages received in such programs for working
              up to 37.5 hours per week that do not exceed 1½ times the minimum wage specified in
              M.G.L. c. 151, §1.
              (k) Wages and/or salary earned by an at least Half time Student, as defined in 760 CMR
              6.03, or by an unemancipated minor.
              (l) Income of a live in Personal Care Attendant (PCA), as defined herein, that is paid to a
              PCA for PCA services, provided that a PCA who is a Household Member shall not be
              considered a remaining member of the Family (Household) as defined in 760 CMR 5.03:
              Family (Household) for the purpose of continued occupancy after the Household Member
              requiring assistance ceases to occupy the unit unless the PCA has income that is included in
              gross Household income.
              (m) Inheritances and Life Insurance Proceeds. This exclusion does not apply to post death
              interest paid on inheritances or insurance proceeds.
              (n) Total Disability Veterans Compensation.
                  1. Total Disability Veterans Compensation that is in excess of $1,800 per month shall
                  be excluded.
                  2. If, prior to October 6, 2016, an LHA had exercised its discretion to exclude Total
                  Disability Veterans Compensation in excess of $1,800 per year, such LHA shall continue
                  to exclude all of such amounts for those Tenants who were previously granted the
                  exclusion.
              (o) A return of capital on sale or transfer of an investment or of other real or personal
              property.
              (p) Earned wages and/or salary and income received from unemployment insurance,
              workers' compensation, and short-term and long-term disability received by a Tenant 62
              years of age or older, or other Household Member, 62 years of age or older, not to exceed the
              total amount which would have been earned by a person working 20 hours per week at the
              minimum wage specified in M.G.L. c. 151, § 1.
              (q) Transitional support services stipends for work related expenses such as transportation
              received from the Department of Transitional Assistance by former clients whose benefits
              terminated due to earnings.
              (r) Contributions to, and withdrawals from, Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE)
              accounts established pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 529A.
              (s) Annuity payments made pursuant to M.G.L. c. 115, § 6B to certain disabled veterans or
              to the parents or non-remarried surviving spouses of such veterans who are deceased.

           (4) Deductions from Gross Household Income. Net Household income shall be gross
           Household income less the following deductions but in no event shall be less than zero:
              (a) $400 for a Household living in family housing in which the Tenant is an elderly person
              of low income or a person with a disability of low income provided that the Household is not
              Overhoused.
              (b) $300 for each unemancipated minor Household Member (younger than 18 years old).
              (c) $300 for each adult Household Member (other than the Tenant); this deduction is limited
              by the amount by which the gross income of such adult Household Member exceeds all other
              deductions claimed against his or her income.
              (d) A deduction for heat in the amount prescribed by EOHLC's schedule of heat deductions;
              this deduction is only available to a Household which separately pays for the cost of heat.
              (e) Payments for necessary medical expenses (including co payment amounts) which are
              not covered by insurance or otherwise reimbursed, provided that such expenses are in excess
              of 3% of annual gross Household income and are paid by Household Members. Payments
              for medical health insurance are considered medical expenses.

(f) Payments for the care of child(ren) or of a sick or incapacitated Household Member
              provided that the LHA shall have determined the payments to be necessary for the
              employment of another Household Member who would otherwise have provided such care;
              the total amount deducted for this deduction and the deductions in 760 CMR 6.05(4)(g) and
              (h) for this Household Member who makes the payment shall not exceed his or her gross
              income.
              (g) Child support, separate support, and/or alimony paid under court order or court approved
              agreement by a Household Member for the support of a child, spouse, or ex spouse, not
              residing with the Household, provided that the total amount deducted for this deduction and
              the deductions in 760 CMR 6.05(4)(f) and (h) for this Household Member shall not exceed
              his or her gross income.
              (h) Non reimbursable payments of tuition and fees of vocational or post secondary
              education of a Household Member, provided that the amount deducted for this deduction and
              the deductions in 760 CMR 6.05(4)(f) and (g) for this Household Member shall not exceed
              the income of the Household Member that has been included in the gross Household income.
              (i) Non reimbursable payments for reasonable and necessary housekeeping or personal care
              services for a Household Member with a disability who as a result of the disability is
              physically unable to perform the housekeeping or personal care services provided that no
              Household Member is reasonably available to perform these services.
              (j) Travel expense, in excess of the cost of the least expensive available transportation, for
              a Household Member with a disability who as a result of the disability is physically unable
              to use the least expensive available transportation and who uses the least expensive
              transportation practical in connection with necessary activities which cannot be performed
              by another Household Member.

           (5) Notice of Determined or Redetermined Rent. Upon calculating or recalculating a Tenant's
           rent, the LHA shall provide the Tenant with written notice of the determined or redetermined rent
           containing the following information:
               (a) The rental amount and the date when it will be effective;
               (b) The calculation of Tenant's monthly gross Household income and monthly net
               Household income detailing the amounts and sources of income and any deductions; and
               (c) Notice of the Tenant's right to file a Grievance under the LHA's Grievance procedure
               in the event of a factual error.
Source: Legislative text reproduced verbatim
Plain English

Under 760 Mass. Code Regs. 6.00 § 6.05, rent in Massachusetts public housing is calculated as a percentage of a household's net income, which is derived by starting with gross income, applying specific inclusions and exclusions, and then subtracting allowable deductions. Gross income broadly covers wages, business earnings, investment returns, benefits, and support payments, while certain items—such as inheritances, educational scholarships, and some veterans' benefits—are explicitly excluded. Allowable deductions include amounts for elderly or disabled households, dependents, medical expenses, and child care costs.

Written by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6 · Reviewed on September 30, 2026

Plain English — not legal advice.

For Property Managers

Local Housing Authorities (LHAs) administering programs under 760 Mass. Code Regs. 6.00 § 6.05 are generally expected to collect and verify documentation of all income sources for each household, apply the prescribed inclusions and exclusions, and calculate applicable deductions before arriving at net household income. Upon completing or revising a rent calculation, compliant operators provide tenants with written notice detailing the rental amount, the income and deduction breakdown, and the tenant's right to file a grievance if a factual error is believed to exist.

General guidance for property managers — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult an attorney for advice on your case.

For Tenants

Under 760 Mass. Code Regs. 6.00 § 6.05, tenants in Massachusetts public housing have the right to receive written notice each time their rent is calculated or recalculated, including a full breakdown of income sources and deductions used. Certain income—such as inheritances, some veterans' compensation, and educational scholarships—must be excluded from the calculation, and eligible deductions can reduce the rent owed. Tenants who believe a factual error was made may file a grievance through the LHA's grievance procedure, and tenant-rights organizations can help clarify available options.

General guidance for tenants — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult a tenant-rights organization or attorney for advice on your case.

Generated September 30, 2026 — auto-generated, not yet human-reviewed. See /transparency for methodology.

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Related Rules

§ 960.101
§ 960.101 Applicability.
§ 960.102
§ 960.102 Definitions.
§ 960.103
§ 960.103 Equal opportunity requirements and protection for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

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