Blind Work Expenses (BWE)

SSA does not count any earned income that you use to meet expenses that you need to earn that income in deciding your SSI eligibility and your payment amount. To qualify you must be eligible for SSI based on blindness. The BWE items do not have to be related to your blindness. When SSA figures your SSI payment amount, they treat items as BWE instead of IRWE. SSA does it this way because it always results in a higher SSI payment amount for you.

• Service animal expenses
• Transportation to and from work
• Federal, state, and local income taxes
• Social Security taxes
• Attendant care services
• Visual and sensory aids
• Translation of materials into Braille
• Professional association fees, and
• Union dues

For a complete explanation go to SSA Online and view the Redbook section or contact your local Benefits Planner by calling 1-866-YOURTICKET (1-866-968-7842).

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