WAC 388-450-0080 What is self-employment income?

This section applies to cash assistance, Basic Food, and medical programs for children, pregnant women and families.

1. Self-employment income is income you earn from running a business, performing a service, selling items you make, or re-selling items to make a profit.

2. You are self-employed if you earn income without having an employer/employee relationship with the person who pays you. This includes, but is not limited to, when: 

   1. You have primary control of the way you do your work; or
   2. You report your income using IRS Schedule C, Schedule C-EZ, Schedule K-1 or Schedule SE.
3. You usually have an employer/employee relationship when:
   1. The person you provide services for has primary control of how you do your work; or
   2. You get an IRS Form W-2 to report your income.
4. Your self-employment does not have to be a licensed business for your business or activity to qualify as self-employment. Some examples of self-employment include:

   1. Childcare that requires a license under chapter 74.15 RCW;

   2. Driving a taxi cab;

   3. Farming/fishing;

   4. Odd jobs such as mowing lawns, house painting, gutter cleaning, or car care;

   5. Running a lodging for roomers or boarders. Roomer income includes money paid to you for shelter costs by someone not in your assistance unit who lives with you when:

      1. You own or are buying your residence; or

      2. You rent all or a part of your residence and the total rent you charge all others in your home is more than your total rent.

   6. Running an adult family home;

   7. Providing services such as a massage therapist or a professional escort;

   8. Retainer fees to reserve a bed for a foster child;

   9. Selling items you make or items that are supplied to you;

   10. Selling or donating your own biological products such as providing blood or reporductive material for profit;

   11. Working as an independent contractor; and

   12. Running a business or trade either on your own or in a partnership.

5. If you are an employee of a company or person who does the activities listed in subsection (2) above as a part of your job, we do not count the work you do as self-employment.

6. Self-employment income is counted as earned income as described in WAC 388-450-0030 except as described in subsection (7).

7. For cash assistance and Basic Food there are special rules about renting or leasing out property or real estate that you own.

   1. We count the income you get as unearned income unless you spend at least twenty hours per week managing the property.

   2. For TANF/SFA, we count the income as unearned income unless the use of the property is a part of your approved individual responsibility plan.