EBT Cards

**Nuckle** · 07-01-14, 08:16 AM

I have been trying to understand this one better. They seem to be more common as of late and I hear people talking about them more and more. It almost seems like everyone has one but me lol. Mostly a joke but what caused me to post this in the first place is what happened to me on a recent trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. So we land at the airport and grab our rental car then proceed to the hotel. We decide to stop at a convenience store for a soft drink. I see I can get 2 20oz diet cokes for $2.50 and head to the register. The clerk rings them up and says that will be $2.50. I am a talker so I ask her if they have sales tax. I do not think we were actually in MB yet but she tells me no, not on unprepared food items. So I go to yacking away about how we pay 10% sales tax on everything in and around Birmingham (enough to make you barf right?). Without hesitation she asks me if I have to pay sales tax when I use my EBT card..... Say what?

At first I thought you meant debit card. So I replied that debit cards and credit cards were the same as I am handing her my Amex Gold card that we use for almost every purchase we make. She said no, not your credit card your EBT card. The one that the Government provides for you. I am standing in front of her in clear view. My rental Tahoe parked out front. I am dressed up pretty well and I will leave it at that. I politely respond that I was not sure about that and tell her to have a nice day.

So once we get to the resort I am talking to a friend about the exchange and he goes on to tell me his story. He takes his kid to daycare every day and once per week he takes cash to pay the daycare center. Recently he forgot to go by the bank but he knew it was no big deal because they had a credit card machine and he could just pay that way. He pulls in behind a new Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited and a lady pops out in front of him and goes inside. She hits the "credit card machine" and he waits behind her. Once she is done he proceeds to swipe his card. Its not working so a worker comes over and then explains to him that he is trying to use an EBT machine. Say what? The lady in the limited has an EBT card?

As the long weekend progresses I share the story with other friends/coworkers and the responses of similar stories just keep rolling. We had 1,000 people at the resort so there were quite a few stories to be told.

Whats the story with these things? How do you get one? Where do I apply?

**Kanati** · 07-01-14, 10:21 AM

I've never even heard of one before.

**Warprosper** · 07-01-14, 10:29 AM

EBT could be successful if integrity were a thing among most people using it. Unfortunately, that's not the case and we're stuck with the liquor bills.

**AetheLove** · 07-01-14, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by Nuckle

I have been trying to understand this one better. They seem to be more common as of late and I hear people talking about them more and more. It almost seems like everyone has one but me lol. Mostly a joke but what caused me to post this in the first place is what happened to me on a recent trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. So we land at the airport and grab our rental car then proceed to the hotel. We decide to stop at a convenience store for a soft drink. I see I can get 2 20oz diet cokes for $2.50 and head to the register. The clerk rings them up and says that will be $2.50. I am a talker so I ask her if they have sales tax. I do not think we were actually in MB yet but she tells me no, not on unprepared food items. So I go to yacking away about how we pay 10% sales tax on everything in and around Birmingham (enough to make you barf right?). Without hesitation she asks me if I have to pay sales tax when I use my EBT card..... Say what?

At first I thought you meant debit card. So I replied that debit cards and credit cards were the same as I am handing her my Amex Gold card that we use for almost every purchase we make. She said no, not your credit card your EBT card. The one that the Government provides for you. I am standing in front of her in clear view. My rental Tahoe parked out front. I am dressed up pretty well and I will leave it at that. I politely respond that I was not sure about that and tell her to have a nice day.

So once we get to the resort I am talking to a friend about the exchange and he goes on to tell me his story. He takes his kid to daycare every day and once per week he takes cash to pay the daycare center. Recently he forgot to go by the bank but he knew it was no big deal because they had a credit card machine and he could just pay that way. He pulls in behind a new Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited and a lady pops out in front of him and goes inside. She hits the "credit card machine" and he waits behind her. Once she is done he proceeds to swipe his card. Its not working so a worker comes over and then explains to him that he is trying to use an EBT machine. Say what? The lady in the limited has an EBT card?

As the long weekend progresses I share the story with other friends/coworkers and the responses of similar stories just keep rolling. We had 1,000 people at the resort so there were quite a few stories to be told.

Whats the story with these things? How do you get one? Where do I apply?

Electronic Benefit Transfer cards are handled by the state(s).

They are used for many different things. If you (or your spouse, or your ward) qualify for any of several state or federal benefit programs, you could get an EBT card.

The program most commonly recognized is SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, what used to be called Food Stamps). There are other programs. Many of them could be characterized as "welfare", but some of them are not. By federal law, no sales taxes or service fees can be charged on a SNAP account. If you see that woman again, you can tell her that.

But SNAP is only one thing that can be handled via an EBT card. There are other federal programs (TANF, for instance). EBT can be used for state programs too, and I couldn't give you a complete list (which would vary by state) nor recite from memory their tax-status. You can probably look it up for any state you're interested in.

I don't think you apply directly for an EBT card; I'd guess you'd get one if you qualified for a program that distributes benefits that way. Although what do I know? Maybe some states make you visit multiple offices to take care of one thing. Though EBT has clear cost and efficiency advantages, there is no reason to think that a competent bureaucracy couldn't find a way to waste the efficiency gains by building additional pains in the ass.

It seems unlikely that you qualify for SNAP, so maybe you shouldn't waste your time finding out where to apply. If you're itching to have the status that an EBT card lends you, and want to nestle one next to your AMEX Gold, you might look into taking in an orphan. Many states will help defer the cost of raising a child that has no family, and perhaps your state uses the EBT system for that.

Cheers,

AethLove

**Kanati** · 07-01-14, 10:48 AM

Nuck nuck wants an EBT Platinum card.

**SovietDooM** · 07-01-14, 11:09 AM

Listened to a rant over EBT cards a few weeks back. Guy called in claim he uses it for liquor and cigarettes. Claiming it's the poor man's way of rigging the system.

**moving-target** · 07-01-14, 11:37 AM

Originally Posted by SovietDooM

Listened to a rant over EBT cards a few weeks back. Guy called in claim he uses it for liquor and cigarettes. Claiming it's the poor man's way of rigging the system.

in a way they do they trade them (food stamp EBT) 2 to 1 you get 2 bucks in stamps for every 1 in cash sometimes its 3 to one or more depending on how desprate they are used to be a place here it was a bar steak house and drive thru liquer people would buy steaks and sodas and trade it to him for booze

**AetheLove** · 07-01-14, 12:00 PM

Originally Posted by SovietDooM

Listened to a rant over EBT cards a few weeks back. Guy called in claim he uses it for liquor and cigarettes. Claiming it's the poor man's way of rigging the system.

Originally Posted by moving-target

in a way they do they trade them (food stamp EBT) 2 to 1 you get 2 bucks in stamps for every 1 in cash sometimes its 3 to one or more depending on how desprate they are used to be a place here it was a bar steak house and drive thru liquer people would buy steaks and sodas and trade it to him for booze

That sort of thing happens. It's common in the sense that it happens everywhere, but it's a very small percent of the program.

There is no way to prevent it. You can decide that it makes sense to give someone Thing, and then give them Thing, but they can always go and trade Thing for OtherThing. That's the thing about markets. You can encourage them, but you can't force them to an absolute result.

Poor people bend the rules, and sometimes cheat. But that's a human thing, not a poor human thing.

Cheers,

AetheLove

**deathgodusmc** · 07-01-14, 04:39 PM

I'll believe its a small percent of the program when people stop asking me to give them cash for what they have on their card and i stop seeing people buy 75 bucks worth of ice cream at 7-11 with them. I think that percentage has been seriously downplayed.