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• Paystubs identifying the person whose income is being considered (i.e., Social Security number or name) and showing the income for the period being considered for the computations • Written statements from employers stating the income for the period being considered for the computations (including Form 2025-EARN) • Self-employment documentation (1040 tax forms, IRS tax transcripts, or self- declaration) • W-2s for the previous year’s wages. This documentation can be used by itself only for applications in the months of January, February, or March of the current heating season, because it will essentially be used as a paystub for December 31 and therefore the application must be within 13 weeks. Because we prefer to use current income via the most recent paystub, this is not a preferred form of income documentation. Use Box #1. • 1099s or receipts for self-employment. • Self-declaration of earned income or self-employment via a Form UIV-2026 as a last resort only. When using less-preferred documentation of income, LSPs must document attempts made to obtain more preferred forms of documentation and why these more preferred documentation types were not able to be used. For instance, if an applicant applies and submits a handwritten note as documentation of earned income, the LSP must request that the applicant provide paystubs. If the applicant’s paystubs are provided electronically through a portal and the applicant reports having difficulty accessing these, the LSP must attempt to provide support to the applicant in accessing the portal. If the applicant is unable to provide paystubs even with LSP support, the LSP must document this and have the applicant complete a Form UIV-2026 (taking care to ensure the IVA captures gross earnings, not net earnings), and ask the applicant to identify all employers from which they receive payment in the previous 13 weeks. The LSP must then send a Form-EARN- 2026 to the employer(s) and allow two (2) weeks for the employer(s) to respond. If the LSP receives no response, or if the employer declines to provide the requested information, the LSP may document this and accept the IVA. Failure to fully document attempts to obtain more preferred documentation prior to accepting less preferred forms and the rationale for accepting such will result in monitoring findings. For household whose members file taxes jointly and one is self-employed, and one is working, wages for the working member must be verified. Paystubs In order to promote consistency in how we collect and calculate income across the state, as well as to reduce the burden on applicants, LSPs are to request only the most recent paystub from each employed household member and to use the information on this paystub to extrapolate the mean three-month income. Routinely requesting three complete months or thirteen complete weeks of documentation from applicant household