For food stamp purposes, bonuses are defined as monetary payments given to an employee by an employer in addition to the pay due to the employee. For example, if a farmer gives an employee a $500 cash gift at Christmas in addition to the employee's regular pay, the $500 is considered a bonus.

Unless a bonus is provided by an employer at approximately the same time and in about the same amount each year, it cannot be considered an annual bonus. For example, if a factory has a good year and gives all of its employees a one-time $100 bonus from its profits, the $100 payment will not be considered an annual bonus because no additional payments are expected. Conversely, if a factory routinely gives all of its employees a ham and a $100 bonus at Christmas, the $100 payment would be considered an annual bonus.

Bonuses which cannot be considered annual bonuses will be excluded as income as non-recurring lump sum payments in both the prospective and retrospective budgeting process. See FSC-5503 for an explanation of the treatment of bonuses considered to be annual bonuses.