Will my SSI Disability be reduced?

Question

I am 27 and was diagnosed with FMS almost a year ago. I have been getting ssi for the past four months now. It's not much but, I work on the side earning up to my allowable $800 a month at a gas station and I have a pretty nice Ebay store that makes me between $300 and $700 a month. Yeah, it varies a lot and it sucks. Anyway, right now my Ebay income doesn't get reported to the IRS but, some people told me that might change in the future. Right now I make $1210 a month tax free from ssi and take home around $770 from my job and then the up to $700 from Ebay. That is obviously money I shouldn't be making if I have ssi. How can I keep it if Ebay starts to report to the IRS? Can I put my Ebay store in a friends name? If I do that will I lose all of my feedback? I have over 13,000 feedbacks and a 100% rating and don't wanna lose it. But I don't wanna lose my ssi either.

Great answers folks. I am a 33 year old army veteran working on a term papers on Morals of the American People. It sounds like some people still have good values to pass on. Sorry for lieing to ya but, I needed real answers to a situation you believed to be real, not answers to a hypothetical question.

Answer 1

This is how I would respond even if I didn't know this was a hypothetical situation.

Hi...Good for you for trying to work. I know from personal experience that living with a disability on a fixed income can be isolating and demoralizing. Work has helped me a lot physically, financially, and with my self-esteem. Unfortunately, Social Security disability benefits programs were designed on the premise that disability = inability to work. Now, with advances in medical care and assistive technology, many people with significant disabilities are indeed able to work, but we still have our disabilities, and may still need supports linked to our benefits.

For example, when I'm working (which has been most of the last 18 years), it's been fine that my SSI has been reduced down to $0. My earnings were more valuable than the SSI check. But because I'm a quadruplegic I cannot afford to give up my eligibility for SSI because it links me to Medicaid which pays for my respirator rental ($1800/mo.), wheelchair repairs ($1000 - $3000/yr.), co-payments for I.V. meds and nursing ($300/mo.) and 9 hrs. a day of personal assistance services ($3000/mo.). I explain how to keep the Medicaid without the SSI below.

In your situation there are two big issues.

1 - According to SSI eligibility rules, if you earn over the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) amount in the first 12 months that you are determined to be disabled, you are not "disabled" according to SSA and you will have to pay the money back. In 2006 SGA was $860/mo. and in 2007 SGA is $900. If there is any evidence in your bank account or elsewhere that you have additional income from Ebay, SSA will probably notice it, especially when you are required to present your bank statements at your annual Redetermination with SSA.

2 - If you remain qualified for SSI after the first 12 months, it's okay to earn above the SGA amount if you follow SSA's work incentive rules. If you have no other income besides SSI and your earned income, you can earn $85/mo. without affecting your SSI. For every dollar that you earn above that amount, your SSI will be reduced by 50 cents. If you earn enough to whittle your SSI down to $0, you may still maintain your Medicaid eligibility under a program called 1619b. This program calculates how much your disability-related expenses are and compares them to what any employer-sponsored or private insurance covers and how much your earned income can support. If your expenses are above what's covered, you can keep your Medicaid. These rules are more complicated than I've explained, so I strongly recommend that you read The Red Book and speak with a disability benefits advocate in your area to figure out how to "go legit." It's really a hassle to get caught lying to SSA, and it can haunt you later if you owe them money - They will take it out of your retirement benefits when the time comes.

See:

Red Book
http://www.ssa.gov/work/ResourcesToolkit/redbook_page.html

To find a benefits advocate, contact a local independent living ceter:

Directory of Centers
http://www.ilru.org/html/publications/directory/index.html

Good luck!

Alana
Benefits Advocate
Person with a Significant Disability

Answer 2

First of all the man doesn't get $1500 from SSI. The maximum SSI benefit is $698 a month. If he is getting $1500 a month then he is getting a social security benefit - not SSI - OR he is getting both a social security benefit and SSI if his social security benefit is under $718 a month. SSI stands for Supplemental Security Income and it is not social security. Also it is impossible for the wife to be receiving a benefit of $698 a month if Social Security knows that they are married. The highest SSI benefit FOR A COUPLE is $1047 a month and that is only when neither one of them has any other source of income. So the figures are all screwed up. So here's the thing - Either the couple is lying to social security about their living arrangements or they are lying to you about their benefit amounts. It's one or the other.

Answer 3

It sounds as though you are able to work under a gainfully employed label plus operate an Ebay account that sounds as tho it's doing not too terribly bad.

With a 13,000 level feedback on Ebay sounds like you've been at this particular opportunity for some time now.Transferring things to a friends name to avoid the tax? Won't work anyway it will still be taxed and your friend will be nailed for it...fair? No.

You are currently pulling in roughly $2680/mo of which you are $670 over and above your allotted earnings ceiling under SSI. With a large number of people out there who are attempting to avoid losing homes, cars, lives...and have been jumping hoops to prove their illnesses under SSI or any disability requirement, you are the individual whom SSI bases their criteria on. The person who has an illness but isn't ill enough to be classed as disabled under their specific stringent criteria. Somehow you've made it past their guards and are now maintaining if not exceeding your pre-illness lifestyle.

With your attendant job alone, you are earning roughly what a healthy agency dictated home care giver would earn watching one child a full day. (appx 25.66/day) Your gas attendant position might not be demanding but it is demanding enough that a person with FMS severely enough that it falls under disability agency guidelines, would never be able to hold down.

I've spent over 13 years fighting to try and get to even half the level of self sufficiency that you have achieved...and I'm allotted to bring in an additional $3000 a year...if I complete a small simple website in 6-8 months or complete a painting in 5 months...I'm ecstatic.

Sorry, but you should be giving up your SSI to someone who cannot do what you are able to and then you should go from there...sounds like you are managing your illness very, very well compared to many who are unable to but certainly wish they could.

Answer 4

You're risking your SSI already, and are probably guilty of tax evasion as well. If you are caught, you may be in far worse financial conditon than you would be just by dumping the eBay income. Failure to claim income and pay taxes on it is a crimminal offense. So is failing to disclose all income to SSA as it affects your SSI payments. Not only can your financial clock be cleaned, but prosecution can result in prison time upon conviction.

And you're contemplating involving a friend in this scam where they would be guilty of conspiracy? Some friend YOU are!

Answer 5

Supplemental Security Income is meant to supplement income for those who need a bit of financial security through no fault of your own. What you are asking us to do is suggest ways in which you can break the law and take money you are not entitled to from law-abiding taxpayers.

I am sorry for your condition but please understand that there are many people who live on less than you do without government help. Myself included.

Not only are you taking more money than you are entitled to in SSI, but you are not paying your taxes. You work two jobs on the side and you seem to have no remorse. May I suggest you examine your conscience and then decide how to make this right.

Answer 6

It doesn't sound like you need SSI, ... you're just draining the system taking funds away from those who really do. It's sad that so many people work hard and pay their taxes so that those in true need can be cared for while people like yourself steal from all. Maybe someone should report this question to the IRS and let them answer your question.

Answer 7

we work and pay taxes and my son also recieves ssi for autism we have to struggle to get services for him because people like you cheat the system just because lots of people do it dont make it right..

Answer 8

Yes, and none too soon. It is people like you that make it hard for the truly disabled to get help. You are a joke.