Form 122A-1: Chapter 7 Current Monthly Income and Median Test

To complete Form 122A-1, the Chapter 7 Statement of Your Current Monthly Income, you report every category of income you received during the six full calendar months before your filing date, average it to a monthly figure, add in a non-filing spouse’s income if you share a household, annualize the total, and compare it to the median family income for your state and household size. If you land at or below the median, you check the box in Part 2 and stop. If you land above it, the form sends you on to Form 122A-2 for the full means test calculation.

The form itself is short. Most of the work is in the records you pull together before you start and in getting the categories right.

Gather Your Records First

The lookback period is the six full calendar months before the month you file. File on July 20 and your window runs January 1 through June 30.¹ Pull the following before you open the form:

Pay stubs or other payment advices covering the six-month window. You must also provide copies of any payment advices received within 60 days before filing, and your case is automatically dismissed if you don’t file them within 45 days of the petition.²
Your most recent federal tax return, and state return if applicable.
Profit-and-loss statements if you’re self-employed or receive rental income.
Statements for pensions, unemployment compensation, alimony, or child support received during the window.
Your spouse’s income records if you’re married and share a household, even if your spouse isn’t filing with you.

You also need a credit counseling certificate from a nonprofit agency approved by the U.S. Trustee Program, obtained within 180 days before filing.³ The certificate isn’t part of Form 122A-1, but without it the court can dismiss your case. The U.S. Trustee Program publishes the approved agency list on its website.⁴

Check Whether You Need the Full Form

Form 122A-1 is required for every individual Chapter 7 filer whose debts are primarily consumer debts.⁵ If you file jointly with your spouse, one form covers both of you, with separate income columns.

Three groups file the companion form, Form 122A-1Supp (Statement of Exemption from Presumption of Abuse), and only complete the verification section (Part 3) of 122A-1:⁶

Filers whose debts are more than half non-consumer by dollar amount (business expenses, investment losses, similar obligations).
Disabled veterans under federal law whose debts were incurred primarily during active duty or homeland defense service. The court cannot dismiss their case on means-testing grounds.⁷
Reservists and National Guard members called to active duty or performing homeland defense for at least 90 days after September 11, 2001. The exemption applies while on duty and for 540 days after service ends.

If none of these fits you and your debts are mostly consumer debts, complete the whole form.

Part 1: Report Each Category of Income

Each income line asks for a monthly average. Add up what you received across the six-month window and divide by six. If you’re married and your non-filing spouse shares the household, their income goes in Column B; your income goes in Column A.¹

The lines, and what each one captures:

Line 2, gross wages and salary. Everything before payroll deductions: base pay, tips, bonuses, overtime, commissions.
Line 3, alimony and maintenance payments received.
Line 4, regular contributions to household expenses paid by anyone other than you (or your spouse in a joint case), including child support received.
Line 5, net business income. Gross business revenue minus ordinary business expenses. If the business lost money, enter $0, not a negative number.
Line 6, net rental income. Same approach: revenue minus expenses, floored at $0.
Line 7, interest, dividends, and royalties received during the window.
Line 8, unemployment compensation.
Line 9, pension or retirement income, including annuity distributions.
Line 10, any other income not already captured. Enter $0 on any line that doesn’t apply to you.

Line 11 adds the columns together. Line 12 is the marital adjustment: if money shown in Column B isn’t regularly used for your household (your non-filing spouse’s separate tax debt, support for dependents who aren’t yours), you can subtract it here. Document precisely where that money goes. Vague or unsupported adjustments draw trustee challenges.

Income You Leave Off the Form

Some income is excluded from the statutory definition of current monthly income and does not go on the form at all:⁸

Social Security Act benefits of every kind: retirement, SSDI, survivor benefits.
Military disability and death-related benefits under the HAVEN Act, including compensation, pension, pay, annuity, or allowance tied to a service member’s disability, combat-related injury, or death. The exclusion covers payments under Titles 10, 37, and 38 of the U.S. Code.
Payments received as a victim of domestic or international terrorism or war crimes.

These exclusions can swing a case. A veteran receiving $2,000 a month in VA disability compensation reports none of it, which can be the difference between qualifying for Chapter 7 and being pushed toward Chapter 13.

Part 2: Compare Your Income to the State Median

On Line 13 you enter your state, your household size, and the median family income for that combination. The U.S. Trustee Program publishes the tables, drawn from Census Bureau data, and updates them periodically. Use the version in effect on your filing date rather than an older one.⁹

Household size is the quiet trap. The Bankruptcy Code doesn’t define it precisely, and courts take different approaches: some count everyone under your roof, some count only tax dependents, and some look at who functions as a single economic unit with you. Which approach your district follows directly changes the median you’re measured against. If your household is complicated (an adult child at home, a domestic partner, a roommate who shares expenses), check how your local court handles it before picking a number.

Line 14 annualizes your Line 11 income (multiply by 12) and compares it to the median. At or below the median: check the first box. The presumption of abuse does not arise, and you don’t complete Form 122A-2. Above the median: check the second box and move on to Form 122A-2.¹

If You Land Above the Median

Being over the median isn’t disqualifying by itself. Form 122A-2 is a detailed expense worksheet: you subtract IRS-approved living expense allowances, secured debt payments, priority debt payments, and certain other allowed costs from monthly income. If what’s left falls below the statutory thresholds, you still qualify. If it doesn’t, a presumption of abuse arises, and the U.S. Trustee or a creditor can move to dismiss your case or convert it to Chapter 13.

You can rebut the presumption by showing “special circumstances” that justify additional expense deductions or income adjustments. The statute frames these as situations beyond your control, and courts have recognized serious medical conditions and calls to active military duty as qualifying examples.⁵ You’ll need detailed documentation and an itemized calculation showing how the circumstances change the numbers.

Sign, File, and Expect Scrutiny

Form 122A-1 is signed under penalty of perjury and filed with the rest of your Chapter 7 petition package in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for your district. Knowingly providing false information on a bankruptcy document is a federal crime carrying up to five years in prison and fines up to $250,000.¹⁰¹¹

The total Chapter 7 filing fee is $338, which bundles the base filing fee, an administrative fee, and a trustee surcharge.¹² The court can let you pay in up to four installments over 120 days, and you can apply for a full waiver (Form 103B) if your household income is below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.¹³

After filing, the trustee and the U.S. Trustee’s office review your means test numbers against your pay stubs and other records. Mismatches, whether in the reported wage figure, a missing income category, or an inflated marital adjustment, invite document requests and, in sharper cases, a motion alleging abuse. Verify every line against the source documents before you file.

1
United States Courts. Chapter 7 Statement of Your Current Monthly Income
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 521 – Debtor’s Duties
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 109 – Who May Be a Debtor
4
United States Department of Justice. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Information
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 707 – Dismissal of a Case or Conversion to a Case Under Chapter 11 or 13
6
United States Courts. Instructions for Bankruptcy Forms for Individuals
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 707 – Dismissal of a Case or Conversion to a Case Under Chapter 11 or 13
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 101 – Definitions
9
U.S. Trustee Program. Census Bureau Median Family Income By Family Size
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 152 – Concealment of Assets; False Oaths and Claims; Bribery
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3571 – Sentence of Fine
12
United States Courts. Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule
13
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 1006 – Filing Fee