关于收入填报

信用卡申请中必填的一项就是你的年收入（Total gross annual income）。可以包括所有你可能获取的收入，比如全职、兼职、实习工资、投资分红收入，社会福利收入，你还可以将别人给你打钱或者帮你付账单的收入也算进去。收入也是银行决定是否给你批准信用卡的重要条件，同时，收入也是决定你信用卡额度的一个关键因素。

对于留学生来说，如果你是自费的本科、硕士，也没有在校内打工的话，收入是很有限的。所以在申请信用卡的时候，会有很大的劣势，甚至连一些无年费的卡也很难申请到。对于有一定收入的 PhD 来说，一两千的月收入可能也无法支持你申请一些高端的信用卡，比如 Chase Sapphire Reserve 就需要你能获取高达 $10000 的额度，你的信用卡才会被批准。假如你年收入扣除房租，连 $3000 都不到，银行可能不会批准一张 $10k 额度的信用卡给你。同样的，如果你在一个银行已经有了 $3000 的额度，可能银行就不会继续批新卡给你了。

对于这个问题，现在不少的玩卡人士都喜欢把自己的收入报高一点，一来这样比较容易继续获批该银行新的信用卡，二来额度高了之后，开卡消费做起来比较方便。不用老是还款，做完任务一次性还清就了事。而银行方面，一般情况下也不会让你提交收入的证明或者去年的 tax return，一般就直接默认你填的是真实的收入，进而决定你的申请是否批准，以及最终的额度。

而这样在信用卡申请的时候虚报收入，是否会产生问题，特别是法律问题呢？我们来分析一下

虚报收入是违法的！

相关法律（18 U.S.C. § 1014）

814. FALSE STATEMENTS (18 U.S.C. § 1014)

Section 1014 of Title 18, United States Code, covers the knowing making of false statements or willfully overvaluing any property or security for the purpose of influencing in any way the action of the enumerated agencies and organizations.

Venue is governed by the general rule under the various false statement and false claim statutes. See United States v. Blecker, 657 F.2d 629, 632 (4th Cir. 1981) , cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1150 (1982) (false claim statute). A violation of section 1014 is indictable either in the district in which the false statement is prepared and mailed, or in which the statement is received. See United States v. Wuagneux, 683 F.2d 1343, 1356 (11th Cir. 1982) , cert. denied, 464 U.S. 814 (1983) .

Generally, the making of a number of false statements to a lending institution in a single document constitutes only one criminal violation under section 1014. See United States v. Sue, 586 F.2d 70, 71 (8th Cir. 1978) . See also United States v. Thibadeau, 671 F.2d 75, 79 (2d Cir. 1982) . However, in Bins v. United States, 331 F.2d 390 (5th Cir.) , cert. denied, 379 U.S. 880 (1964) , the court of appeals found duplicity in an indictment that charged the defendant in each count with making false statements on two different FHA forms. In United States v. Canas, 595 F.2d 73, 78 (5th Cir. 1979) , the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit distinguished Bins and found that an indictment can properly charge in a single count false statements made on different documents as long as the documents are necessary parts of a loan package meant to obtain a single loan.

简单的说，就是在申请信用卡（算作一种 loan）时，提供了虚假的信息（收入）。

案例一

Rochester Man Sentenced for Loan Application Fraud

U.S. Attorney’s OfficeNovember 19, 2012
Western District of New York (716) 843-5700

ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that David P. Gaylord, 52, of Rochester, New York, who was convicted of bank loan application fraud, was sentenced to time served and five years’ supervised release and ordered to pay $46,914.73 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who handled the case, stated that in 2006, while residing in the Western District of New York, the defendant submitted various credit card applications to Advanta Corp., Bank of America, and Family First Federal Credit Union. Gaylord knowingly provided false information regarding his income in order to obtain lines of credit from the banks and credit union. The defendant indicated that his income was anywhere between $90,000 to $122,000 when, in 2006, he reported to the Internal Revenue Service that his income was approximately $12,488. Gaylord ended up leaving outstanding balances on the various lines of credit and filed for bankruptcy.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christopher M. Piehota.
This content has been reproduced from its original source.

盖洛德故意提供有关其收入的虚假信息，以便从银行和信用合作社获得信贷额度。被告表示，当他在 2006 年向美国国税局报告他的收入约为 12488 美元时。他在申请贷款和信用卡时，填的收入在 90,000 美元至 122,000 美元之间。盖洛德最终在各种信贷额​​度上留下了未清余额，并申请破产。

这算是非常典型的申一波卡不还钱，然后破产。

案例二

Loan Fraud Defendant’s Lies and False Documents Qualify Him for Five Years in Prison

Evidence at trial showed that Raymond told extraordinary falsehoods about his finances. For example, he claimed that his income ranged from $308,841 to $543,933; in fact, his true income was only a fraction of these amounts. To support his false claims he submitted fraudulent tax returns that appeared to have been filed with the IRS. At trial, the government proved that the file stamps on these tax returns were completely fabricated, and that the returns had never been submitted to the IRS.

Raymond also submitted forged bank and brokerage account statements to support his Bank of Escondido application, showing balances close to $400,000 in each account. In fact, the balances in these accounts were substantially lower, with one account even having less than $100.

DEFENDANTS

  • Solomon Gordon Raymond (a.k.a. Paul Anthony Raymond )
  • Age: 54
  • Golden Valley, Minnesota

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

  • Four counts of False Statement in a Loan and Credit Application, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014.
  • Maximum penalty: Thirty years in prison, $1,000,000 fine, restitution, and $100 special assessment, per count.、

AGENCIES

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General
  • Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General
  • Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

同样是在申请信用卡时撒谎，提供了比自己真实收入高很多的收入，甚至还伪造提交 IRS 的税表（TAX Return）

从案件总结，我们可以看出。这类案件会有 FBI 参与调查，会有 IRS 的税表来作为真实收入的证据

申请者角度

看了上面两个案件，大家如果曾经虚报过的话，会不会吃不下饭了呢？真的这么吓人吗？

其实从上面两个案件来说，两个人都是因为大量获取了贷款，后面无法还清，直接破产，进而被发现有各种伪造收入信息的。假如你曾经虚报信息，但是并没有造成什么严重的后果，或者说你每次都按时还钱，自然不会有 FBI 来介入查你。仅仅在申请信用卡时为了批准，后面老老实实的用，从实际上来说，和正常人的情况也没啥两样。个人觉得，就是上法庭，陪审团也不会这么轻易认为你有罪。当然，这里不是鼓励大家去虚报收入，因为无论有没有产生严重的后果，这本身就是一个违法的行为。如果你就是为了获取额度，然后撸完了就跑回国，或者申请破产。那么早晚有一天会被调查起诉的。

此外，银行是给你的填报行为留了一点后路的。比如 Chase 信用卡申时，填报收入的空格要求填报你的收入或者期望的收入，还包括了各种各样的类别，还包含你从家人获取的资金。从技术上来说，如果你稍微提高一点你自己的期望收入，进而能申请到这张卡，还算是可以理解吧。当然，如果填的收入过高，我个人是不建议的，过高的额度往往给你了“犯罪”的空间。。。

银行、信用卡公司的角度

而从银行的角度，银行很少去查你的真实时候收入的。因为收入信息本身就没有公开，也只有 IRS 会有比较准确的信息。所以在你填写的时候，银行都默认了你填的信息就是真实的信息。有的银行会让你填写额外的信息，比如职业、雇主之类的信息，通过这些信息，也能大致判断一下你的收入范围是不是可靠。银行的目的是控制放贷的风险（信用卡也是 personal loan 的一种），而不是为了去调查你是否犯罪。所以，现在银行都调用你的信用报告，从你个人的信用信息就可以大致判断你的风险范围。比如你已经有其他银行 $5000 额度的信用卡，且一直按时还款，那么给你批准一张 $2000 额度的信用卡，那风险不会很大。反过来说，如果你信用报告千疮百孔，各种欠债不还，近期各种 Hardpull，银行当然会判断你风险过高，不会给你新的信用卡的。

银行和你的关系也不是一锤子买卖，在你使用信用卡的过程中，银行其实一直监控着你的风险。除了会定期 Soft Pull 你的信用报告，查看情况外，也会根据你的消费和收入来判断你是否存在还不起钱的风险。如果你风险过高，银行也会认真调查你的收入。比如 AMEX Financial Reveiw 就是非常严格的调查，需要你提交表格，允许 AMEX 去 IRS 调取你去年的收入，然后 amex 会根据你的收入情况，调整你的额度或者直接关卡。Chase 也有类似的 Review 行为，不过没上升到 IRS 阶段。

此外，银行还常常让你更新自己的收入信息，一方面可以根据你更高的收入来给你更高的额度，来促进你消费；另一方面就是为了避免你收入大幅下降后造成的风险，会及时给你下降额度。