Tax Return Info

[Anonymous]

        In regards to credit card companies that may require tax returns as part of the app process, do they just look at the gross income that you have? Do they dig into the return and look at details such as the deductions, etc.?
Thanks

[Anonymous]

It depends.

This information is usually not required up front. However credit card companies may require you to go through a financial review sometime down the road (AMEX is especially known for this). As long as you are honest on your application this should not be an issue.

I have no idea how much they actually dig into your returns though. I would assume this also varies by company. Perhaps if you tell us which companies yo uare applying to people will be able to give you a better response.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply; anybody else have an opinion? I'm not sure which I'll be applying for yet.

[Creditaddict]

USAFed was the first bank I have ever dealt with that I had to give them income proof before or after applying for a credit card or loan.

That's more than I had to give to buy a house and a condo back in the day! lol

[Anonymous]

bump...any other insights?

[Peach8321]

Are you worried about the deductions?  Because of the economic changes, companies have become more diligent about doing research before giving out new cards and AMEX is known as a conservative company.  That said, if you aren't asking for high limits and your income isn't super low and your scores are good, you should be fine.

[Shane1]

I was recently declined by FKFCU for a card after sending my tax return. Their explanation was DTI. If I had to guess, I would say their process was simple X divided by X = % = approve or decline. It didn't seem to me as if they were considering anything else. 776 FICO score and single digit utilization with no baddies. They didn't care. Not good enough even for a toy limit, although I'd prefer no card than a sock drawer card anyway.

Before making their decision, they asked me if I wanted $25k, which I suspect I would have been approved for had I just paid off my credit cards to 0 or close to it before they reported. I told them I'd just take my business elsewhere then (instant approval from Citi, CLI from Lexus). Also joined Penfed and Alliant just to keep my CU options open.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies.  Shane I'm a little confused on the timeline of your events; at what point did they offer you a $25K credit line? They offered the 25K line and then requested the tax return? And then after seeing the tax return they took the offer away?

[Shane1]

They pulled Equifax and received my tax return. After that, they asked if I wanted $25k, I assume based on my income and credit score. Then it was sent over to the loan department, where it was denied due to "excessive obligations in relation to income."

[Anonymous]

bump.....any more comments?