do you have to have a job to get a department store credit card?

[dairyday]

now i know what your thinking.. why is she trying to get a credit card if she doesnt have a job?! well, i do have income. its just not taxed, i get paid cash. i keep children.. so i was just wondering if you have to have like a pay stub or something to get a store card

[NicoleM]

Legally you are self employed and your income IS subject to income tax. The credit issuer is more interested in your having an income than they are in the source of employment. In your case, they would require a tax return as proof of income. I suggest contacting a CPA about properly reporting your income. That said, I would also recommend NOT getting the card in any case.

[TNShannon]

I know I'm late to the game here, but I'm with NicoleM. You need to report the income you're making. There are many reasons why, but here's a very good one: If you ever do get audited at some point in the future, they will look at your entire financial history. If the government sees that you tried to obtain a card and they get the application, and then they see that you were making x amount of dollars per year but you didn't claim it on taxes, they can come back and sue you for the amount you should have paid in.

Once they do that, it's up to you to prove that you didn't make that money...which means one of those things. First, that you lied to the IRS. Second, that you lied on your credit application. Either way, the result is TROUBLE.

Don't try to get that store card before you square things away with a CPA, just like NicoleM suggested.