What can’t be bought with SNAP benefits?
7 CFR 278.6(b)(1)
We owe loyalty to only you.
When you’re looking online, you have multiple options. There are so many firms advertising SNAP defense. Thankfully, your search is over. Spodek Law Group P.C. offers premier white-glove service and we’re unafraid of fighting. Unlike firms that are more focused on their relationship with the agency than with you, we owe loyalty to only YOU. Your store, your family, your license.
One reason our firm has such a high success rate is that we’re selective about who we work with. If we’re choosing to work with you, it’s because we think we can make a positive impact. That’s vastly different from firms that take on any client willing to pay. When you reach out, you start with a risk-free consultation - and you can ask us anything you want, regardless of how long it takes.
If there’s a way to keep your store in the program, we’ll find it. That’s the whole job.
The eligible list is groceries. Everything else at the counter is a potential charge, and the category of the item decides the size of the sanction.
Common nonfood items
Detergent, toilet paper, diapers, pet food, cleaning supplies, cigarettes and beer. A first sanction involving a pattern of these items runs about one year under 7 CFR 278.6(e)(4). For a discount or convenience format, this inventory is the economic core of the store, which makes mistakes structural rather than occasional.
Costly or conspicuous items
Small appliances, electronics, auto parts, tools, phone cards and gift cards. The regulation treats these as harder to explain, and a first-sanction pattern draws three years under 278.6(e)(3). The distinction matters enormously and it’s frequently arguable from itemized data.
How the exposure is reduced
Quantify it yourself before the agency estimates it. Itemized POS exports for the flagged dates, SKU-level eligibility configuration showing the store designed against the violation, signed clerk training, and proportion against total SNAP volume. Where the neighborhood has no comparable store, 278.6(f) can also convert months into a money penalty.
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