I'm not sure I fully understand all the nuances of the question, but since you direct it to me, I'll do my best to respond. Income needs to be verified by the exchange. Prior year tax returns and data from IRS and SSA will be used. If those are not sufficient, Equifax data will also be consulted. If projected income still cannot be verified using these tools the exchange navigators can document it using other sources and proceed. These need to be verified after three months, however, and then again until either eligibility is confirmed by actual earnings or the policy is discontinued. You can find more detail here http://www.healthreformgps.org/wp-content/uploads/income-verification-8-6.pdf
While the written ACA application does ask those with variable income streams for what they "think" their total 2014 income will be, my attempt at sarcasm was clearly misguided
Obviously there are significant penalties (inc possible perjury) for willfully mis-stating income, and (hopefully) effective methods for detection & enforcement.
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