Food stamps, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, help low-income families in their purchase of groceries. According to the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, families may receive benefits if they do not have more than $2,000 in resources and do not earn more than $1,800 per month. SNAP benefits are optional. Applicants can cancel benefits if they no longer need them, or if they are no longer eligible for them. To cancel your stamps take the following steps, which vary from state to state. Plan your cancellation request prior to being issued new credits on your food stamp account. Some states, such as Arizona, cannot cancel benefits once they have been issued. You may also need to pay the state back for the benefits if you cancel after they are issued. Contact your state's department of social services. You can do this either by calling the agency or visiting an office in your area, and explain the reasons why you want to cancel the benefits. Often, a person gets a job and his income makes the family ineligible to receive the benefits as they are above the top threshold. Another reason is that you simply do not want them and in this respect simply ask that they be cancelled (Illinois calls this a "client requested cancellation"). Having done so, avoid using your benefits for a year. As an alternative, your state may automatically cancel your account as it seems inactive and out of use; this is the case in Massachussets.
