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◦ The owner sold or closed down the business. ◦ The owner sold a part of his or her business (e.g., one of two retail stores). ◦ The owner is ill or injured and will be unable to operate the business for a period of time. ◦ A plumber gets the contract on a new apartment complex. The job will take nine months and his or her income will increase. ◦ A farmer suffers unusual crop loss due to the weather or other circumstances. ◦ There is a substantial cost increase for a particular material such that there will be less profit per unit sold. ◦ Sales are consistently below previous levels for an unknown reason. The relevant period may vary depending on the type of business (consider normal sales fluctuations). • The applicant’s or member’s business was not in operation for at least one full month during the previous tax year. • The applicant’s or member’s business was not in operation for six or more months when the person applied for or renewed benefits or reported changes. IM workers should determine whether it is necessary to use anticipated earnings on a case-by-case basis and document the reasons for the determination in case comments. The date of an income change is the date a worker and applicant or member agree that a significant change in circumstances occurred. IM workers must also judge whether the person’s report was timely to decide if the case was overpaid or underpaid. Changes are then effective according to the normal prospective budgeting cycle. IM workers should not recover payments made before the agreed upon date. 15.6.5.3.1 Reporting Anticipated Earnings The Self-Employment Income Report form (F-00107) (also called a SEIRF) simplifies reporting income and expenses when earnings must be anticipated. It can be used to report income for any type of business with any form of organization. However, some people, especially farm operators, may find it easier to complete the applicable IRS Form 1040 schedule when income and expense items are more complex. For anticipated earnings to be determined, the applicant or member must complete a SEIRF for the months of operation since the significant change in circumstances occurred, not to exceed 12 months. (Note: The beginning of a business is a significant change in circumstances.) When requesting verification, the SEIRF forms will be prepopulated with the individual’s and business’ information, and will identify each individual month for which income and expenses are needed. However, he or she may complete a separate SEIRF for each month or combine the months on one SEIRF. When a new self-employment business is reported or when a significant change in circumstance occurs, recalculate self-employment income as follows: • When six or more months of actual self-employment information is available (but tax information is not available), calculate monthly average self-employment income using all the months’ (at least six months, but no more than 12 months) income. Example 2 James applies for Medicaid on November 1, 2017. He reports that he was self-employed starting in April 2017. The agency asks James to complete SEIRFs for April, May, June, July, August, September, and October so that his prospective self-employment income can be determined for his Medicaid certification period (November 2017–October 2018).