When you apply for Social Security disability benefits in Illinois, you may be eligible for substantial gainful activity exceptions. To receive SSDI benefits, your substantial gainful activity (SGA) from work activity or profit from earnings must be below the annual SGA limit the Social Security Administration allows.
If you need help with SSDI benefits in Illinois, contact Ankin Law Chicago disability attorneys for a free consultation. Call us today at 872-529-0377.
What Does Substantial Gainful Activity Mean?
According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), substantial gainful activity means a specific dollar amount allowed for a person’s yearly earnings to qualify for Social Security disability. To be eligible for Social Security disability insurance (SSDI), an applicant’s substantial gainful activity (SGA) must not exceed the SGA income limit. The SSA defines Social Security disability as being unable to work full-time due to a severe medical condition. To qualify for SSDI benefits, an applicant must show that there is at least a 12-month period where he or she was not earning above the approved SGA income limit. If income exceeds the SGA limit, the application for SSDI will be denied by the SSA.
The SSA considers work to be gainful when a worker gets paid for his or her effort and even when a worker does not get paid, as long as it is the type of work that people usually get paid to perform. The SSA puts strict requirements on Social Security disability benefits because it provides financial support to people who are temporarily or permanently unable to work due to a medical condition. The SSA does not provide SSDI benefits for partial disabilities.
The Listing of Impairments that qualify for disability benefits is outlined in The SSA Blue Book. Part A listings define approved medical conditions and diseases for adults, while Part B listings define approved medical conditions and diseases for children. The SSA recognizes medical conditions listed in The Blue Book as a baseline definition of disability: an illness or injury that prevents work for at least one full year (12 months) or is likely to result in the patient’s death. If a medical condition is not listed in the SSA Blue Book, applicants can still qualify for SSDI benefits, but they must make a case to the SSA that their medical condition is as severe as those listed in the Blue Book and limits their daily functioning capacity or their ability to perform work.
What Is the SGA Income Limit?
The SGA income limit is adjusted annually to reflect changes in national average wages. In 2024, the SGA limit was $1,550 per month for people with a disability and $2,590 per month for people who are blind. In 2025, the income limit increased to $1,620 per month for people with a disability, and $2,700 per month for people who are blind. If a disability applicant’s income exceeds this SGA income limit, the application for SSDI benefits will be denied by the SSA. If an applicant is already receiving SSDI benefits, and their income rises above the SGA limit, they will likely lose their existing Social Security disability benefits.
What Qualifies as Substantial Gainful Activity?
The SSA considers any type of job or work you do for payment as a substantial gainful activity. This includes temporary employment, part-time employment, self-employment, and other types of work that is performed for a profit, even if you do not get paid. If your employer pays you in goods or services rather than a company paycheck, the SSA can still consider this as a substantial gainful activity. Technically speaking, the SSA can even count criminal activity as SGA, if the person involved is making a profit.
Common sources of income that qualify as SGA include:
- Consulting work with clients
- Driving and delivery work
- Handyman services, including TaskRabbit and Thumbtack
- Manual labor, including gardening and repair work
- Rideshare driving, including Lyft and Uber
- Volunteer work
If you are currently performing these types of jobs, you can still receive SSDI benefits, but you can’t make more than $1,620 per month, the SGA income limit for 2025.
What Does Not Qualify as Substantial Gainful Activity?
Common sources of income that do not qualify as SGA include:
- Early retirement benefits
- VA disability benefits
- Housing subsidies
- Household chores
- Subsidized work
- School work
Passive Income
The SSA only looks at your active income when calculating your SGA. Passive income such as bank interest, rental income, and stock dividends do not count against your SGA income limit. Private short-term disability benefits and unemployment benefits are not considered as part of the SGA income limits. The SSA considers these benefits as proof that you intend to return to work at some point in the near future.
School Work
If you are a full-time student, the SSA does not include school work as part of your SGA. However, you may have a harder time qualifying for SSDI benefits. In some cases, the SSA or a disability judge may argue that attending school shows that you have the potential to earn income above the SGA income limit.
Trial Work
If you are disabled and want to try going back to work, the SSA allows a trial work period (TWP) for at least nine months. Your TWP can extend over 60 months (five years). During that period, you can work nine months over the SGA cap without affecting your SSDI benefits. Your TWP allows you to collect your disability benefits even if your earnings exceed that year’s SGA limits in a given month. After your trial work period ends, if you successfully return to work, you will lose your SSDI benefits.
Substantial Gainful Activity Exceptions
If you have a disability, and you are still working, the SSA does not always count all of your income towards the SGA threshold. Such substantial gainful activity exceptions are known as “income exclusions” and are meant to encourage people who are trying to get back into the workforce. Substantial gainful activity exceptions include:
- Going to school
- Involvement in social activities
- Joining a social club or church group
- Performing household chores
- Physical, occupational, or mental therapy
- Taking care of personal business
The SSA does not consider these activities to be SGA for the purposes of determining your initial eligibility for disability benefits, however, the agency may still consider them as evidence of your functional limitations. Your limitations are an important component of your residual functional capacity, a set of restrictions that the SSA uses to determine whether you are disabled.
Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWE)
Impairment-related work expenses (IRWEs) are costs you incur for special services or equipment related to your disability and necessary for you to work. If you have paid IRWEs, the SSA may deduct the cost from your earnings. This can help keep your income under the SGA level. Examples of items that the SSA can consider to be IRWEs include:
- The amount you pay for hiring someone to help you get ready for work
- The amount you pay for specialized transportation to and from work
- The amount you pay for learning how to use specialized impairment-related equipment that is necessary for your job
- The amount you pay for hiring a non-impaired person to do part of your job that you can’t do because of your disability
The SSA allows impairment-related work expenses to be deducted from your earnings as long as you have not received any reimbursement for them. You are not allowed to get IRWE deductions on payments for services needed on behalf of other people, such as childcare. All costs for impairment-related work expenses must be paid in cash and not by an exchange of services.
Subsidized Employment
In some cases, employers pay disabled workers more than the market value of their labor to help them overcome employment barriers and gain experience in the workforce. The SSA refers to these situations as “subsidized” or “sheltered” employment. Any amount you are paid over the reasonable value for your services is considered a “subsidy.” The SSA does not include the amount of the subsidy when determining whether your work is SGA. The agency uses multiple factors to determine whether earnings include a subsidy and to calculate the approximate value of the subsidy.
Self -Employment
If you are self-employed, the SSA uses special formulas referred to as the “Countable Income Test” or the “Three Tests” to calculate whether your work is SGA. Since these tests are more complicated and require specific business-related information, it’s best to consult a Social Security Disability Lawyer who understands this special process.
If you need help with Social Security disability in Illinois, contact us. Our Chicago Social Security disability lawyers can explain SGA and guide you through the SSDI process.
