To submit an impairment-related work expense claim, you write a signed statement on Form SSA-795 that lists each expense with its date, amount, provider, and connection to your disability, attach your receipts, and deliver the packet to your local Social Security field office. There is no dedicated IRWE form. SSA-795, the Statement of Claimant or Other Person, is the general-purpose sworn statement Social Security uses whenever no specialized form exists for the situation.1Social Security Administration. Statement of Claimant or Other Person Get it right and SSA subtracts your approved expenses from your countable earnings; get it wrong and the deduction gets denied.
Gather Your Documentation First
Before you write anything on the form, assemble your proof. SSA requires physical evidence for every expense you claim, and missing documentation is the fastest way to get a deduction denied. For each expense, pull together:
- Original receipts or invoices from pharmacies, medical supply companies, attendant care providers, or vehicle modification shops. Each one needs to show the date, the provider’s name, and the amount you paid.
- Pharmacy printouts for prescriptions, showing drug name, fill date, and your co-pay.
- Cancelled checks, bank statements, or credit card statements as a backup when a receipt is missing. The record needs to show the transaction date and payee.
- Proof of your work dates for each month you’re claiming. Pay stubs work, or a letter from your employer confirming your schedule.
Organize everything by month. When you sit down to draft your statement, you’ll need to match each expense to a specific work period, because IRWEs are only deductible in months you actually worked.
What to Write on Form SSA-795
You can download a blank SSA-795 from ssa.gov or pick one up at your local field office. The form itself is short: a large open space for your written statement, followed by a signature block certifying that everything you’ve written is true. The work is knowing what to put in that open space.
Your statement should cover the following, in plain language:
- Your name, Social Security number, and the date range of the expenses you’re claiming.
- Each expense listed individually. For every item, give the product or service, the provider’s name, the date you paid, and the exact dollar amount.
- A short explanation of how each expense connects to your disability and why you need it to work. One or two sentences per item is enough. Something like: “I take [drug name] daily to control seizures so I can safely operate equipment at work.”
- A clear statement that you paid each expense yourself and were not reimbursed by insurance, your employer, Medicare, Medicaid, or any other source.
Sign and date the form. Attach every supporting receipt and record you gathered. If your claim covers several months, group the attachments by month so the reviewer can follow along. Reviewers who can trace your numbers quickly tend to approve claims faster.
Handling Lump-Sum and Irregular Expenses in Your Statement
Not every IRWE is a tidy monthly payment, and how you present a large or non-monthly expense in your statement affects the deduction you get.2Social Security Administration. POMS DI 10520.030 – Determining When IRWE Are Deductible and How They Are Distributed The rules give you choices:
- One-time purchases, like buying a wheelchair outright, can be deducted in full in the month you paid, or spread evenly across 12 consecutive months. You pick.
- Expenses that recur on a non-monthly schedule (quarterly, for example) can be deducted in the month you paid or allocated across the months in the payment period.
- A down payment on an installment plan can be deducted in full the month you make it, or allocated over 12 months. If you allocate, SSA adds the down payment to the installment payments you make during those 12 months and divides the total evenly across all 12. Starting in month 13, only the regular installment is deducted.
Say which approach you’re using directly in your SSA-795 statement. A $1,200 wheelchair deducted all at once zeroes out a single month’s countable earnings but leaves the other eleven unprotected; spread over 12 months, it gives you a steady $100 monthly deduction instead. Think about which pattern keeps your countable earnings consistently below the Substantial Gainful Activity threshold or, for SSI, maximizes your monthly payment across the year, and state your choice on the form.
Submitting the Packet
Deliver your completed SSA-795 and all supporting documentation to your local Social Security field office. As of January 2025, SSA requires an appointment for in-person visits. Call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) or use ssa.gov to schedule one before you go. You can also mail the packet, though hand-delivering it lets you get a date-stamped copy for your records on the spot.
An SSA representative will review each claimed expense against the eligibility criteria. If you’re an SSI recipient reporting wages through the “my Social Security” online portal, the physical IRWE documentation supplements your electronic earnings report; it does not replace it, and you still need to submit the paper packet separately. Once approved, the representative applies the total deduction to your gross earnings for the relevant months and adjusts your benefit calculation. SSA may come back with questions if any expense seems unclear or if the tie to your impairment isn’t obvious from what you sent, so keep copies of everything you filed.
What Happens if SSA Denies an Expense
If SSA disallows one of your claimed expenses, you’ll get a written notice explaining the decision. You have 60 days from the date you receive that notice to request an appeal, and SSA assumes you received the notice five days after the date printed on it.3Social Security Administration. Understanding Supplemental Security Income Appeals Process
The first step is reconsideration: a different SSA employee reviews your case from scratch. Request it online through the “Appeal a Decision” page on ssa.gov, or submit Form SSA-561-U2 to your local office. If reconsideration doesn’t go your way, the next levels are a hearing before an administrative law judge (Form HA-501-U5), then Appeals Council review, then federal court.
For SSI recipients, filing speed matters. If you submit your reconsideration request within 10 days of receiving the notice, your current SSI payments continue unchanged until SSA reaches a new decision. File between 11 and 60 days and your payments may temporarily decrease before being reinstated once the request is processed. That 10-day window is tight, so if you disagree with a denial, act fast. You can gather additional supporting documentation while the reconsideration is pending.
One Note Before You File: Blind SSI Recipients
If you receive SSI based on blindness, don’t file a standard IRWE request without first asking about Blind Work Expenses. BWEs cover any reasonable work-related expense, even ones with no connection to your visual impairment. Federal and state income taxes, union dues, transportation costs, and meals during work hours can all qualify.4Social Security Administration. Social Security Work Incentives for People Who Are Blind Standard IRWEs require a direct link between the expense and your specific impairment; BWEs only require that the expense is reasonable and work-related. BWEs apply only to SSI, not SSDI, but for blind SSI recipients they are the broader deduction and worth asking about before you commit to a standard IRWE filing.