Confused about reporting gross vs. net income for CalWORKs IRT - which one matters?

You ALWAYS report the gross income (total pay before taxes) when comparing to your IRT. The IRT is based on gross income, not net. If your gross income exceeds your IRT, you need to report it to the county within 10 days, even if your net pay is below the threshold. The county will then recalculate your benefits based on your new income, but they'll take into account certain deductions when determining your new benefit amount. Don't risk not reporting - that could definitely lead to an overpayment situation.

my worker told me the same thing last week when i called about my new job. its the amount b4 taxes that matters for IRT. i was kinda upset cuz thats like $300 more then what actually hits my bank account but thats how they do it i guess

Just to add some clarification - the Income Reporting Threshold (IRT) is always based on gross income (before any deductions). However, when the county actually calculates your benefit amount, they do apply certain disregards and deductions to your income. This includes the $450 earned income disregard plus 50% of remaining earnings for CalWORKs. So even though you need to report when your gross income exceeds the IRT, you might still qualify for partial benefits after they apply these calculations. The important thing is reporting within 10 days of exceeding your IRT to avoid overpayments.

Ugh I had this EXACT same problem last year and couldn't get a straight answer from anyone!! Called the county 9 times and got disconnected or put on hold forever. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to a real worker within like 30 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE. The worker confirmed it's definitely GROSS income that matters for IRT reporting. But they also explained I'd still qualify for partial benefits since they only count a portion of earned income. Much better than guessing and risking an overpayment!

Everyone saying gross but my worker told me they look at the "TOTAL EARNED INCOME" which is different from gross somehow??? idk the whole system is confusing af. But yeah better report the bigger number to be safe. I got hit with an overpayment once and they took money out of my benefits for months to pay it back. NOT worth it.

OK I reported my income change today. I was worried about my benefits getting cut completely but the worker said I'll probably still get something because of the income disregards. She said they take the first $450 plus half of the rest of my earnings off before calculating benefits. So even though my gross is over the IRT, I'll probably still qualify for partial Cash Aid which is such a relief! Thanks everyone for the help!

side note but does anyone else think its RIDICULOUS that they expect us to know all these complicated rules?? like what even is an IRT really and why do they make it so confusing with the gross vs net stuff? i swear they make it complicated on purpose so people mess up and they can cut people off

This is such a common confusion! I went through the exact same thing when I first started working. The key thing to remember is that the IRT is ALWAYS compared to your gross income (before taxes and deductions). Even though it feels unfair since that's not what you actually take home, that's how the system works. I'd recommend calling your worker to report the change ASAP since you're over the gross threshold - waiting could definitely lead to overpayment issues. And don't worry too much about losing all your benefits! With the earned income disregards, you'll likely still qualify for some assistance even if your gross income exceeds the IRT. Better to report now and keep things above board than risk owing money back later.