General Rule

You have received income when you have the right to exercise control over the income, regardless of whether you have taken actual possession.

Generally, this means income would be “received” for purposes of financial disclosure when received for purposes of federal income tax.  Note, however, that income would be reportable on your financial disclosure report even if exempt from federal income tax (e.g., interest on municipal bonds).  In other words, your financial disclosure report generally will correspond to your taxable income in terms of when it is counted but not necessarily what is counted.

Example 1:  A filer has received dividends on a stock even if the dividends are reinvested.

Example 2:  A filer has received a payment for services that has been delivered in the form of a check even though the filer has not cashed the check.  Similarly, a filer who defers collecting a check would still have received the payment for purposes of financial disclosure.  Filers cannot avoid reporting income by deferring possession of income made available to them.

Aggregation

You, Your Spouse, and Your Dependent Children

To determine whether income from a single source meets the reporting threshold, you must aggregate your income from that source with income that your spouse and dependent children received from that source.

Different Types of Income and Losses from a Particular Source

You must generally report gross income for any income you receive, and you must aggregate all types of income from a particular source in determining whether the income from that source meets the reporting threshold.  You may note your net income from a business or real estate as well if you wish to show a loss.  Capital losses may be subtracted from any gains and other investment income when calculating the gross amount of investment income received.

Example 1:  A filer received $150 in dividends and $150 in capital gains from an asset.  The total income of $300 meets the income reporting threshold.  If the asset instead produced $300 in dividends but was sold at a loss of $200, the total income of $100 falls below the income reporting threshold.

Example 2:  A filer owns a rental property from which the filer received $16,800 in rent during the reporting period.  The filer may not subtract the expenses of maintaining the property when determining the amount of income received.  The filer, therefore, would select the “$15,001 - $50,000” category for income.

Total Income from Partnership, LLCs, and S-Corporations

You may use net distributive share, rather than gross income, when determining the total amount of income received from any partnerships, limited liability companies, or S-corporations in which you have an interest.  However, your net distributive share has been received for purposes of financial disclosure, regardless of whether you have taken a distribution.

Example:  A filer operates a business that is structured as a limited liability company.  The filer must report income from the business even if all of its profit during the reporting period was reinvested into the business.

Income from the Underlying Assets of Individual Investment Vehicles

If you have an individual investment vehicle (e.g., brokerage account) in which there are no investors other than your spouse and dependent children, look at the income from each asset of the account individually when determining the amount of income received.  Note, however, that a special rule applies to income from a tax-deferred plan or account.  See below.

Income from the Underlying Assets of Pooled Investment Vehicles

If you have an interest in a pooled investment vehicle (e.g., fund) in which there are other investors, first determine whether the vehicle qualifies as an excepted investment fund or an excepted trust.  In such a case, consider only the total income received from the vehicle.  If the vehicle does not qualify as an excepted investment fund or an excepted trust, report the amount of income received from each underlying asset attributable to you, your spouse, and your dependent children.

Example:  A filer has a 10% interest in a family investment fund.  The fund had an overall value of $77,000 at the end of the calendar year and held the following underlying assets: (1) shares of ABC Corporation stock that had a value of $75,000 and produced $3,000 in dividends and (2) bonds issued by XYZ, Inc., that had a value of $2,000 and produced $800 in interest and capital gains.

The filer’s income from the overall fund exceeds the reporting thresholds ($3,800 x 10% > $200).  With respect to the underlying assets of the fund, the filer would have reportable income from the ABC Corporation stock ($3,000 x 10% > $200) but not the XYZ, Inc., bonds ($800 x 10% < $200).

Special Treatment of Tax-Deferred Plans and Accounts

OGE does not treat tax-deferred income accruing within a retirement plan or account as having been received because of the limitations on withdrawal and other regulatory requirements governing such plans and accounts.  You, however, would report distributions as having been received.  You may subtract from the distribution any portion that constitutes an investment into the plan or account of previously received income.  In most cases, though, filers will find it easiest to use the total amount of a distribution during the reporting period.

Example:  A filer would not report dividends on a stock as having been received if the stock is held within an individual retirement account.  The filer, however, would report distributions from the retirement account as having been received.