Bonus and eligibility? (calculated, income, expenses)

[stewart2]

My company does performance-based bonuses twice a year. It is not guaranteed e.g. if you are evaluated as underperforming, you receive no bonus. How do performance-based bonuses factor into income eligibility? Are they calculated as part of your income? Are they used to calculate projected income? Are they not counted at all?

[Digital Nomad]

If it’s a consistent/annual bonus it counts. Performance based bonuses should count as well, I suppose unless you reach out and explain otherwise.

[judywuxingyi]

I believe that in the marketing handbook and income guide by HPD, there's a distinction between recurring income and non-recurring income. On that basis, you could argue that it's non-recurring income and have your employer fill out the income verification form and provide additional details stating your recurring income is only your base salary, for example, or that certain parts of your pay statement are for expenses (remote-related expenses), etc.

It's subjective and I've had back and forth with a few marketing agents on this issue. Some take it as is and others takes more time to get comfortable with it. But bottom line is that if your employer says your recurring income is only your base salary (or whatever is actually consistent as Digital Nomad mentioned), that would be hard for the marketing agent to argue against. Your most recent pay stubs will also show that it is non-recurring.