Department of Human Services: Chapter7

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The SSR cannot count any QQ after December 31, 1996 if the applicant or the person whose SSN is being used received a federal means-tested public benefit during the quarter.

The SSR should take the following three steps:

Step 1:

The SSR should review the applicant’s record. Do these codes which represent QQs add up to 40?

If 'Yes,' the applicant meets the exception requirement.
If 'No,' are there current or prior years' earnings which are not shown in the QQ pattern?
If 'Yes,' develop as described in Section 7.9.7: Reconciliation in this Chapter.
If the total now equals 40 or more, the applicant meets the exemption requirement.

Step 2:

The SSR reviews other records for the periods which can be used (during the marriage for a spouse and under age 18 for a parent). The SSR should add the codes which represent a QQ on these records to the applicant's record to see if they equal 40.

If 'Yes,' the applicant meets the exception requirement.
If 'No,' consider current and prior taxable year earnings as in Step 1.
If the total when these are added equals 40, the applicant meets the exception requirement.
If 'No,' go to Step 3.

Step 3:

On all records, the SSR should review the Minimum Number QCs 1937-1950 field.

If these can be used (see Step 2), add them to the total. Does the total equal 40?
If 'Yes,' the applicant meets the exception requirement.
If 'No', continue.

Review the Maximum Number of QCs 1937-1950 field and look at the QC patterns for codes # and Z.

If the maximum number and/or the code # and Z will equal 40 when added to the total, refer the case to SSA as described in Section 7.9.7: Reconciliation in this Chapter.
If the total still does not equal 40, continue.

Review the QQ pattern with the applicant.

If the applicant believes that quarters are missing, refer the case to SSA as described in Section 7.9.7: Reconciliation in this Chapter.
If the applicant believes the records are correct, s/he cannot meet the exception requirements.

The following chart will assist the SSR in determining whether the individual has the level of earnings to produce a QQ.

For 1978 and later, credits are based solely on the total yearly amount of earnings. The number of creditable QQs are obtained by dividing the individual’s total earned income by the increment amount for the year. The maximum number of quarters per year is 4. All types of earnings follow this rule. The amount of earnings needed to earn a credit increases and is different for each year. The Credit of Qualifying Quarters Chart presented below outlines the amount of earnings needed for each credit for 1979 through 2006.

Year	Amount of Needed Earnings	Year	Amount of Needed Earnings
1979	$260	1996	$640
1980	$290	1997	$670
1981	$310	1998	$700
1982	$340	1999	$740
1983	$370	2000	$780
1984	$390	2001	$830
1985	$410	2002	$870
1986	$440	2003	$890
1987	$460	2004	$900
1988	$470	2005	$920
1989	$500	2006	$970
1990	$520	2007	$1,000
1991	$540	2008	$1,050
1992	$570	2009	$1,090
1993	$590	2010	$1,120
1994	$620	2011	$1,120
1995	$630	2012	$1130

A current year quarter and a quarter earned in the immediately preceding year may be included in the 40-quarter computation even if SSA does not have information about those earnings on the automated system. The SSR should use the individual's earnings (earned to date) as the numerator to determine the number of quarters earned in a current year for which SSA does not yet have data on the automated system. IMA has elected to allow credit for a quarter even if the year is not yet complete.

Example

The applicant entered the U.S. in 1986. The applicant’s spouse entered prior to that time. They married in June 1991. The SSR determined that a QQ history for both SSNs would be needed for the applicant to meet the 40-quarters exception. The SSR obtained a Consent for Release of Information from the spouse and requested information on their quarters of work through the automated ACEDS interface. The QQ History received is shown below. The quarter display begins on the left with the first quarter and ends on the right with the fourth quarter (see Section 7.9.5: Quarters of Coverage Pattern Values in this Chapter). If the SSR receives data in a format different than what is presented below, it will be clearly labeled.

              Applicant Applicant’s Spouse

1986

NNNN

CCCC

1987

NAAC

CCCC

1988

NNNN

ZZCC

1989

NNAA

CCCC

1990

AAAA

CCCC

1991

AAAA

CCCC

1992

AANN

CCCC

1993

CCCC

CCCC

1994

CCCC

CNNC

1995

CCCC

CCCC

1996

NNNN

NNNN

1997

NNNN

NNNN

The applicant has a combination of wage and agricultural quarters totaling 27. The spouse's quarters earned during the marriage must be added to the applicant's Qualifying Quarters. The spouse has 17 quarters during the marriage. When added to the applicant’s quarters, the total exceeds the 40-quarter requirement.

In this case, the SSR does not need to reconcile the Z quarters with SSA because they are outside of the marriage period. Also, lag quarters do not need to be developed because they are not needed to reach the 40-quarter requirement.