Examples – Eligible Disability Assistance Expenses
HUD Handbook 4350.3 REV-1 — Occupancy Requirements of Subsidized Multifamily Housing Programs · 2026 edition · updated 2026-10-05 · United States
The payments made on a motorized wheelchair for the 42-yearold son of the head of the family enable the son to leave the house and go to work each day on his own. Prior to the purchase of the motorized wheelchair, the son was unable to make the commute to work. These payments are an eligible disability assistance expense.
Payments to a care attendant to stay with a disabled 16-year-old child allow the child’s mother to go to work every day. These payments are an eligible disability assistance expense.
This deduction is equal to the amount by which the cost of the care attendant or auxiliary apparatus exceeds 3% of the family’s annual income. However, the deduction may not exceed the earned income received by the family member or members who are enabled to work by the attendant care or auxiliary apparatus.
If the disability assistance enables more than one person to be employed, the owner must consider the combined incomes of those persons. For example, if an auxiliary apparatus enables a person with a disability to be employed and frees another person to be employed, the allowance cannot exceed the combined incomes of those two people.
| Example – Calculating a Deduction | Example – Calculating a Deduction | for Disability Assistance |
|---|---|---|
| Expenses | ||
| Head’s earned income | $14,500 | |
| Spouse’s earned income | +$12,700 | |
| Total income | $27,200 | |
| Care expenses for disabled 15-year-old | $3,850 | |
| Calculation: | $3,850 | |
| (3% of annual income) | -$816 | |
| Allowable disability assistance | expenses | $3,034 |
( NOTE: $3,034 is not greater than amount earned by spouse, who is enabled to work.)
HUD Occupancy Handbook Chapter 5: Determining Income & Calculating Rent
6/07
5-44
Section 2: Determining Adjusted Income
4350.3 REV-1
Auxiliary apparatus includes items such as wheelchairs, ramps, adaptations to vehicles, or special equipment to enable a sight-impaired person to read or type, but only if these items are directly related to permitting the disabled person or other family member to work.
a. Include payments on a specially-equipped van to the extent they exceed the payments that would be required on a car purchased for transportation of a person who does not have a disability.
b. The cost of maintenance and upkeep of an auxiliary apparatus is considered a disability assistance expense (e.g., the veterinarian costs and food costs of a service animal; the cost of maintaining the equipment that is added to a car, but not the cost of maintaining the car).
c. If the apparatus is not used exclusively by the person with a disability, the owner must prorate the total cost and allow a specific amount for disability assistance.
In addition to anticipated, ongoing expenses, one-time nonrecurring expenses of a current resident for auxiliary apparatus may be included in the calculation of the disability assistance expense deduction after the expense is incurred. These expenses may be added to the family’s total disability assistance expense either at the time the expense occurs through an interim recertification or in the rent calculation during the following annual recertification.
Attendant care includes but is not limited to reasonable expenses for home medical care, nursing services, housekeeping and errand services, interpreters for hearing-impaired, and readers for persons with visual disabilities.
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