If your rent or mortgage exceeds a certain percentage of your income, SNAP allows you to deduct the excess as a shelter cost, further reducing your countable income and increasing your benefit. This deduction exists because food insecurity and housing insecurity are connected—someone paying 70% of income for rent has less money for food regardless of their nominal income.
The excess shelter deduction allows SNAP households to deduct housing costs that exceed 50 percent of their net income after other deductions, which can significantly reduce countable income and increase benefit amounts for households with high rent or utility costs.
This deduction is one of the most commonly miscalculated adjustments in SNAP cases, and errors can cost a household hundreds of dollars in lost benefits annually. AI can help you gather your housing cost documentation, walk through the step-by-step calculation, and identify whether your current benefit amount reflects the correct deduction.
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