What Counts as Income on a Credit Card Application?

Why Your Income Matters

Your income directly relates to your ability to pay bills, and credit card issuers use your income to determine whether you're more or less risky for them to lend money to.

Creditors consider several factors when they're evaluating your credit card application and setting your credit limit and interest rate. This includes information on your credit report and from other sources, such as your:

• Credit scores
• Credit reports
• Outstanding debts
• Recent inquiries
• Income

Federal law generally requires credit card issuers to consider your ability to pay before opening a new credit card or raising your credit limit.

Since your income isn't included on your credit reports, you'll usually provide it when you apply for a credit card. In some cases, card issuers may ask for verification documents, such as pay stubs or tax returns.

Learn more: Why Do Credit Card Issuers Ask for Your Income?

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Types of Income You Can Often Use

You can generally report several types of income on your credit card application. This includes:

• Employment: Wages and salaries you receive as a full-time or part-time employee, including your bonuses, tips and commissions.
• Self-employment: Money you earn from freelance work, contract work, gig work or operating a business.
• Investments: Interest, dividends and other income from investments.
• Retirement benefits: Social Security benefits, pensions, annuities and other qualifying retirement income.
• Public assistance: Certain government benefits and other public assistance may be included.
• Alimony, child support and separate maintenance: You can generally choose to include this as income when you receive it regularly and expect to continue receiving it for some time.
• Income you have access to: You may be able to include a spouse's, partner's or household member's income or assets if you have reasonable access to the funds. For instance, if your spouse's income is regularly deposited into a joint account.
• Financial aid: The portion of scholarships, grants, work-study wages and student loans that you receive directly.
• Allowance: Money you receive regularly from someone else, such as an allowance from a parent while you're at school.
• Other income: Less common types of income may also count, such as royalty payments, trust payouts and foster-care income.

If You're Under 21 Years Old

The rules are different if you're applying for a credit card and are under 21. Generally, if you're 18 to 20 years old, you can only use your independent income or assets when applying for a credit card. It's not enough to have access to someone else's income or assets or have a parent who's willing to pay your bill. However, if your parent regularly deposits money into an account that you own or share, that income may count on a credit card application.

Tip: If you're under 21 and don't have an individual income to include on a credit card application, you could try applying with a cosigner who is at least 21 or becoming an authorized user on a loved one's credit card until you can qualify for your own.

Types of Income and Benefits You Often Can't Use

Creditors generally consider income or assets that are available to help make your payments. As a result, some sources of money may not count, including:

• Gifts: Money you receive as a one-time or occasional gift generally isn't considered ongoing income.
• Unemployment benefits: There may be exceptions for seasonal workers who regularly collect unemployment, however.
• Non-cash assistance: Vouchers and subsidies for utilities and child care that aren't received as cash can't be used to make your credit card payments.
• Lottery or gambling winnings: One-time winnings generally aren't a reliable source of income. However, regular payments from an annuity may be treated differently depending on the card issuer.
• Some financial aid: Money paid directly to a school or used for educational expenses may not be available to make credit card payments and may not qualify as income.
• Loans: Loans generally aren't considered income because you have an obligation to repay the money.

Creditors can have different policies for determining which sources of income they consider. If you have questions, check the credit card application instructions or contact the card issuer before applying.

Learn more: An Essential Guide to Your First Credit Card

How to Calculate Your Income for Credit Applications

Credit card applications usually ask for your annual gross income, which is your income before taxes or benefits are deducted.

To calculate your annual income, add up your expected income from employment, self-employment, investments and other qualifying sources. You can use your pay stubs, tax returns, bank statements, invoices and other financial documents to help estimate your income.

If your monthly income varies, you can estimate your annual income by calculating your average monthly income and multiplying it by 12.

Example: If you earn an average of $5,000 per month, your estimated annual income would be $60,000.

Do All Creditors Consider Your Income and Debt?

Credit card issuers are required to ensure you can afford to make your debt payments. They may consider your income or assets in addition to our current financial obligations.

A card issuer may consider your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) which compares your gross monthly income and all your monthly debt payments. A lower DTI generally indicates that less of your income is committed to debt payments, which can show that you're able to take on additional debt.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

Income is one of the major factors that credit card issuers consider to approve applications and determine your terms. If you're over age 21, you can generally include income that you regularly have access to, even when it's received outside of traditional employment. Otherwise, if you're under 21, you typically need to complete the credit card application using your own independent income.

Credit card issuers also consider your credit history, existing debt and other factors when they're evaluating an application. Before applying, check your credit report and credit scores to gauge where you stand and look for credit cards that you're most likely to be approved for. You can even use Experian's card comparison platform to get matched with cards that fit your unique credit profile.