State benefits provided to a person in need, such as welfare, food stamps or housing, are generally considered support provided by state. A proposed rule on which taxpayers may choose to rely treats governmental payments made to a recipient that the recipient uses, in part, to support others are treated as support of the others provided by the recipient, whereas any part of such a payment used for the support of the recipient would constitute support of the recipient by a third party.
For example, if a mother receives Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and uses TANF payments to support her children, the proposed regulations treat the mother as having provided that support. If a child receives Social Security benefits, and uses them for the child’s own support, the benefits are considered to be provided by the child.
TANF
