It reminds me of the time when I applied for a mortgage, years back. As half my salary was in bonuses I had to get a letter from my employer to state that my gross income was a combination of basic salary and bonus payments. Most of the offshore oil industry works on a system of base pay and bonuses. Different situation, I know, but there are similarities. Needless to say I and many others did get the mortgage based on the gross figure and not just on basic pay.