Proving your income when you're self-employed can seem complicated. We simplify it for you with our handy guide.
By Betsy Jacobs • Nov 26, 2023
At first glance, showing “proof of income” when you’re self-employed can feel daunting. Since you’re not always earning the same amount of money from the same source each month, it requires a little more organization and preparation than it does for full-time employees. However, providing proof of income is actually very easy and is mostly a matter of staying organized and keeping records of your business’s financial activity.
In this post, we’re breaking down everything you need to know about proof of income, including what it is, why you need it, and the documents you can use to provide it.
Exactly what it sounds like: some form of documentation stating how much money you earned during a set time period, usually a year. The exact format depends on who is requesting it, and some documents are considered more credible and authoritative than others. We’ll elaborate on the different options below.
As you navigate adult life, there are certain moments when it’s necessary to demonstrate your proof of income. Many of these moments are actually significant milestones, and pave the way for exciting new life developments, like owning a car or moving into a new home.
Here’s a general list of the most common reasons for needing proof of income:
All of these activities (besides filing taxes) involve someone lending you money or covering an expense for a set period of time. This requires trust — that you’ll make good on your side of the exchange by fulfilling your payment obligations. Banks, insurance and credit card companies, and other types of lenders need to know that you’ll honor whatever commitment you’re making by becoming a customer, a tenant, or other type of borrower.
For employees, proof of income is straightforward. It’s typically a combination of a W-2 form that is provided by the employer and your latest bank statements. The W-2 form is especially accurate since it shows your true income as a factor of your wages plus deductions. Since self-employed individuals don’t receive W-2 forms, they turn to other types of documentation.
Some ways to prove self-employment income include:
This is the most credible and straightforward way to demonstrate your income over the last year since it’s an official legal document recognized by the IRS.
An important note if you’re self-employed – your employer/client is only required to send a 1099 form for payments over $600, so the 1099 forms you receive may not cover your total income for the year. This is perfectly OK, but remember that you need to report all of your income on your tax return, so be sure to include supplemental documentation (such as a bank statement) for income that isn’t substantiated by 1099 forms.
This is a tax form that’s sent to you either electronically or in the mail from anyone who paid you more than $600 throughout the year. The payer is responsible for filling this out and sending it to the IRS, as well as a copy for you to use as reference when filling out your own tax return. So if you don’t have your tax return on hand, you can use 1099 forms to prove your income.
Need to report self-employment income that doesn’t have a corresponding 1099 form? Bank statements are your best bet. If you only use one account for both business and personal banking, you must clearly highlight the business-related payments and expenses to indicate what’s relevant as income.
This is a great reason to choose a banking solution that allows you to categorize business expenses and generate expense reports, as it’s much easier to reveal only what’s needed to the requesting party.
This is a fancy name for documentation that shows the overall revenue, cost, and profit made from your work. It’s best to regularly track your income and expenses as it helps you make better decisions and plan for business growth. You can have an accountant set it up for you, or you can create a spreadsheet on your own.
It might sound silly, but you can create pay stubs even if you’re self-employed for record-keeping and to demonstrate proof of income. You can create these yourself or use a pay stub generator.
To be considered legally valid, a self-employed pay stub must include:
The longer you work for yourself, the more that providing proof of income becomes second nature. Don’t sweat it, you’ll get used to having the right documents on hand when these moments arise. The most important thing is to stay organized and track your business payments and expenses.
Betsy Jacobs is a staff writer at Lili.
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