[cylinder]

I don't advise lying, I didn't know the forms ask that question. Anyhow, the discrimination against the self-employed is ridiculous, especially with so many contract workers and freelancers out there and the spread of at-will employment means you can lose your job tomorrow even at a large company.

[davismwfl]

Fair enough. And I totally agree with you that it is tougher on the freelancer or self employed and can be quite frustrating.

To your point, in my experience, when a bank evaluates your tax returns for proof of income, they use the net income, so after all deductions, to calculate your debt ratio. Yet if you were an employee they would use your gross income on the pay stub and then calculate your debt to income ratio. A lesson I learned at the wrong time, it all worked out but what a pain.