PREC 1-94    Improved-Pension Income -- Application of $2,000 Exclusion of Tribal per capita Payments under 25 U.S.C. § 1407      Citation: Vet. Aff. Op. Gen Couns. Prec. 1-94, VAOPGCPREC 1-94, 1994

QUESTION PRESENTED:

Whether, in computing annual income for improved pension purposes, the $2,000 exclusion provided by 25 U.S.C. § 1407 for certain Native American tribal per-capita payments applies to the sum of all payments received during an annual reporting period or applies to each individual payment received during the reporting period.

HELD:

For purposes of computing annual income under the improved-pension statutes, 25 U.S.C. § 1407 authorizes the exclusion from a claimant's income of no more than $2,000 of the aggregate amount received during the relevant twelve-month period as per capita distributions from a Native-American tribal trust fund.