§413. Quarter and quarter of coverage
(a) Definitions
For the purposes of this subchapter-
(1) The term "quarter", and the term "calendar quarter", mean a period of three calendar months ending on March 31, June 30, September 30, or December 31.
(2)(A) The term "quarter of coverage" means-
(i) for calendar years before 1978, and subject to the provisions of subparagraph (B), a quarter in which an individual has been paid $50 or more in wages (except wages for agricultural labor paid after 1954) or for which he has been credited (as determined under section 412 of this title) with $100 or more of self-employment income; and
(ii) for calendar years after 1977, and subject to the provisions of subparagraph (B), each portion of the total of the wages paid and the self-employment income credited (pursuant to section 412 of this title) to an individual in a calendar year which equals the amount required for a quarter of coverage in that calendar year (as determined under subsection (d)), with such quarter of coverage being assigned to a specific calendar quarter in such calendar year only if necessary in the case of any individual who has attained age 62 or died or is under a disability and the requirements for insured status in subsection (a) or (b) of section 414 of this title, the requirements for entitlement to a computation or recomputation of his primary insurance amount, or the requirements of paragraph (3) of section 416(i) of this title would not otherwise be met.
(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (A)-
(i) no quarter after the quarter in which an individual dies shall be a quarter of coverage, and no quarter any part of which is included in a period of disability (other than the initial quarter and the last quarter of such period) shall be a quarter of coverage;
(ii) if the wages paid to an individual in any calendar year equal $3,000 in the case of a calendar year before 1951, or $3,600 in the case of a calendar year after 1950 and before 1955, or $4,200 in the case of a calendar year after 1954 and before 1959, or $4,800 in the case of a calendar year after 1958 and before 1966, or $6,600 in the case of a calendar year after 1965 and before 1968, or $7,800 in the case of a calendar year after 1967 and before 1972, or $9,000 in the case of the calendar year 1972, or $10,800 in the case of the calendar year 1973, or $13,200 in the case of the calendar year 1974, or an amount equal to the contribution and benefit base (as determined under section 430 of this title) in the case of any calendar year after 1974 and before 1978 with respect to which such contribution and benefit base is effective, each quarter of such year shall (subject to clauses (i) and (v)) be a quarter of coverage;
(iii) if an individual has self-employment income for a taxable year, and if the sum of such income and the wages paid to him during such year equals $3,600 in the case of a taxable year beginning after 1950 and ending before 1955, or $4,200 in the case of a taxable year ending after 1954 and before 1959, or $4,800 in the case of a taxable year ending after 1958 and before 1966, or $6,600 in the case of a taxable year ending after 1965 and before 1968, or $7,800 in the case of a taxable year ending after 1967 and before 1972, or $9,000 in the case of a taxable year beginning after 1971 and before 1973, or $10,800 in the case of a taxable year beginning after 1972 and before 1974, or $13,200 in the case of a taxable year beginning after 1973 and before 1975, or an amount equal to the contribution and benefit base (as determined under section 430 of this title) which is effective for the calendar year in the case of any taxable year beginning in any calendar year after 1974 and before 1978, each quarter any part of which falls in such year shall (subject to clauses (i) and (v)) be a quarter of coverage;
(iv) if an individual is paid wages for agricultural labor in a calendar year after 1954 and before 1978, then, subject to clauses (i) and (v), (I) the last quarter of such year which can be but is not otherwise a quarter of coverage shall be a quarter of coverage if such wages equal or exceed $100 but are less than $200; (II) the last two quarters of such year which can be but are not otherwise quarters of coverage shall be quarters of coverage if such wages equal or exceed $200 but are less than $300; (III) the last three quarters of such year which can be but are not otherwise quarters of coverage shall be quarters of coverage if such wages equal or exceed $300 but are less than $400; and (IV) each quarter of such year which is not otherwise a quarter of coverage shall be a quarter of coverage if such wages are $400 or more;
(v) no quarter shall be counted as a quarter of coverage prior to the beginning of such quarter;
(vi) not more than one quarter of coverage may be credited to a calendar quarter; and
(vii) no more than four quarters of coverage may be credited to any calendar year after 1977.
If in the case of an individual who has attained age 62 or died or is under a disability and who has been paid wages for agricultural labor in a calendar year after 1954 and before 1978, the requirements for insured status in subsection (a) or (b) of section 414 of this title, the requirements for entitlement to a computation or recomputation of his primary insurance amount, or the requirements of paragraph (3) of section 416(i) of this title are not met after assignment of quarters of coverage to quarters in such year as provided in clause (iv) of the preceding sentence, but would be met if such quarters of coverage were assigned to different quarters in such year, then such quarters of coverage shall instead be assigned, for purposes only of determining compliance with such requirements, to such different quarters. If, in the case of an individual who did not die prior to January 1, 1955, and who attained age 62 (if a woman) or age 65 (if a man) or died before July 1, 1957, the requirements for insured status in section 414(a)(3) of this title are not met because of his having too few quarters of coverage but would be met if his quarters of coverage in the first calendar year in which he had any covered employment had been determined on the basis of the period during which wages were earned rather than on the basis of the period during which wages were paid (any such wages paid that are reallocated on an earned basis shall not be used in determining quarters of coverage for subsequent calendar years), then upon application filed by the individual or his survivors and satisfactory proof of his record of wages earned being furnished by such individual or his survivors, the quarters of coverage in such calendar year may be determined on the basis of the periods during which wages were earned.
(b) Crediting of wages paid in 1937
With respect to wages paid to an individual in the six-month periods commencing either January 1, 1937, or July 1, 1937; (A) if wages of not less than $100 were paid in any such period, one-half of the total amount thereof shall be deemed to have been paid in each of the calendar quarters in such period; and (B) if wages of less than $100 were paid in any such period, the total amount thereof shall be deemed to have been paid in the latter quarter of such period, except that if in any such period, the individual attained age sixty-five, all of the wages paid in such period shall be deemed to have been paid before such age was attained.
(c) Alternative method for determining quarters of coverage with respect to wages in period from 1937 to 1950
For purposes of sections 414(a) and 415(d) of this title, an individual shall be deemed to have one quarter of coverage for each $400 of his total wages prior to 1951 (as defined in section 415(d)(1)(C) of this title), except where such individual is not a fully insured individual on the basis of the number of quarters of coverage so derived plus the number of quarters of coverage derived from the wages and self-employment income credited to such individual for periods after 1950.
(d) Amount required for a quarter of coverage
(1) The amount of wages and self-employment income which an individual must have in order to be credited with a quarter of coverage in any year under subsection (a)(2)(A)(ii) shall be $250 in the calendar year 1978 and the amount determined under paragraph (2) of this subsection for years after 1978.
(2) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, on or before November 1 of 1978 and of every year thereafter, determine and publish in the Federal Register the amount of wages and self-employment income which an individual must have in order to be credited with a quarter of coverage in the succeeding calendar year. The amount required for a quarter of coverage shall be the larger of-
(A) the amount in effect in the calendar year in which the determination under this subsection is made, or
(B) the product of the amount prescribed in paragraph (1) which is required for a quarter of coverage in 1978 and the ratio of the national average wage index (as defined in section 409(k)(1) of this title) for the calendar year before the year in which the determination under this paragraph is made to the national average wage index (as so defined) for 1976,
with such product, if not a multiple of $10, being rounded to the next higher multiple of $10 where such amount is a multiple of $5 but not of $10 and to the nearest multiple of $10 in any other case.
(Aug. 14, 1935, ch. 531, title II, §213, as added Aug. 28, 1950, ch. 809, title I, §104(a),
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1994-Subsec. (c).
Subsec. (d)(2).
Subsec. (d)(2)(B).
1990-Subsec. (c).
"(1) such individual is not a fully insured individual on the basis of the number of quarters of coverage so derived plus the number of quarters of coverage derived from the wages and self-employment income credited to him for periods after 1950, or
"(2) such individual's elapsed years (for purposes of section 414(a)(1) of this title) are less than 7."
1989-Subsec. (d)(2)(B).
1984-Subsec. (a)(1).
Subsec. (a)(2)(B)(ii).
1980-Subsec. (a)(2)(A).
1977-Subsec. (a)(2).
Subsec. (d).
1973-Subsec. (a)(2)(ii), (iii).
1972-Subsec. (a)(2)(ii).
Subsec. (a)(2)(iii).
1971-Subsec. (a)(2)(ii).
Subsec. (a)(2)(iii).
1968-Subsec. (a)(2)(ii).
Subsec. (a)(2)(iii).
Subsec. (c).
1965-Subsec. (a)(2)(ii).
Subsec. (a)(2)(iii).
1961-Subsec. (a).
1960-Subsec. (a)(2).
1958-Subsec. (a)(2)(B).
1956-Subsec. (a)(2)(B)(iv). Act Aug. 1, 1956, substituted "if such wages equal or exceed $100 but are less than $200" for "if such wages are less than $200".
1954-Subsec. (a)(2)(A). Act Sept. 1, 1954, §106(a)(1), redefined "quarter of coverage," in the case of quarters occurring before 1951, to exclude any quarter any part of which was included in a period of disability, other than the initial quarter of such period, and which provided that any quarter any part of which was included in a period of disability, other than the first quarter of such period, could not be counted as a quarter of coverage in a calendar year in which wages of $3,000 or more were paid.
Subsec. (a)(2)(B). Act Sept. 1, 1954, §104(c), provided that for calendar years after 1954 an individual shall be credited with a quarter of coverage for each quarter of the year if his wages for the year equal $4,200 and he shall be credited with a quarter of coverage for each quarter of a taxable year ending after 1954 in which the sum of his wages and self-employment income equal $4,200.
Act Sept. 1, 1954, §108(b), provided for crediting quarters of coverage on basis of annual amounts of wages received for agricultural labor.
Subsec. (a)(2)(B)(i). Act Sept. 1, 1954, §106(a)(2), redefined "quarter of coverage", for quarters occurring after 1950, to exclude any quarter any part of which was included in a period of disability, other than the first and last quarters of such period.
1952-Subsec. (a)(2)(A). Act July 18, 1952, §3(a)(1), redefined "quarter of coverage".
Subsec. (a)(2)(B)(i). Act July 18, 1952, §3(a)(2), inserted "and no quarter any part of which was included in a period of disability (other than the initial quarter and the last quarter of such period) shall be a quarter of coverage".
Subsec. (a)(2)(B)(iii). Act July 18, 1952, §3(a)(3), substituted "shall (subject to clause (i) of this subparagraph) be a quarter of coverage" for "shall be a quarter of coverage".
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 1994 Amendment
Amendment by section 107(a)(4) of
Effective Date of 1990 Amendment
"(A) make application for benefits under section 202 of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 402] after the 18-month period following the month in which this Act is enacted [November 1990], and
"(B) are not entitled to benefits under section 227 or 228 of such Act [42 U.S.C. 427, 428] for the month in which such application is made."
Effective Date of 1989 Amendment
Amendment by section 10208(b)(2)(A), (B) of
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Amendment by
Effective Date of 1977 Amendment
Amendment by section 351(c) of
Effective Date of 1973 Amendment
Amendment by
Amendment by
Effective Date of 1972 Amendment
Amendment by section 203(a)(3)(A) of
Effective Date of 1971 Amendment
Amendment by section 203(a)(3)(A) of
Effective Date of 1968 Amendment
Amendment by section 108(a)(3)(A) of
Effective Date of 1965 Amendment
Amendment by section 320(a)(3)(A) of
Effective Date of 1961 Amendment
Amendment by
Effective Date of 1960 Amendment
"(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply only in the case of monthly benefits under title II of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.], and the lump-sum death payment under section 202 of such Act [42 U.S.C. 402], based on the wages and self-employment income of an individual-
"(A) who becomes entitled to benefits under section 202(a) or 223 of such Act [42 U.S.C. 402(a), 423] on the basis of an application filed in or after the month in which this Act is enacted [September 1960]; or
"(B) who is (or would, but for the provisions of section 215(f)(6) of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 415(f)(6)], be) entitled to a recomputation of his primary insurance amount under section 215(f)(2)(A) of such Act on the basis of an application filed in or after the month in which this Act is enacted [September 1960]; or
"(C) who dies without becoming entitled to benefits under section 202(a) or 223 of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 402(a), 423], and (unless he dies a currently insured individual but not a fully insured individual (as those terms are defined in section 214 of such Act [42 U.S.C. 414])) without leaving any individual entitled (on the basis of his wages and self-employment income) to survivor's benefits or a lump-sum death payment under section 202 of such Act [42 U.S.C. 402] on the basis of an application filed prior to the month in which this Act is enacted [September 1960]; or
"(D) who dies in or after the month in which this Act is enacted [September 1960] and whose survivors are (or would, but for the provisions of section 215(f)(6) of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 415(f)(6)], be) entitled to a recomputation of his primary insurance amount under section 215(f)(4)(A) of such Act; or
"(E) who dies prior to the month in which this Act is enacted [September 1960] and (i) whose survivors are (or would, but for the provisions of section 215(f)(6) of the Social Security Act, be) entitled to a recomputation of his primary insurance amount under section 215(f)(4)(A) of such Act [42 U.S.C. 415(f)(4)(A)], and (ii) on the basis of whose wages and self-employment income no individual was entitled to survivor's benefits or a lump-sum death payment under section 202 of such Act [42 U.S.C. 402] on the basis of an application filed prior to the month in which this Act is enacted [September 1960] (and no individual was entitled to such a benefit, without the filing of an application, for any month prior to the month in which this Act is enacted [September 1960]); or
"(F) who files an application for a recomputation under section 102(f)(2)(B) of the Social Security Amendments of 1954 [set out as a note under section 415 of this title] in or after the month in which this Act is enacted [September 1960] and is (or would, but for the fact that such recomputation would not result in a higher primary insurance amount, be) entitled to have his primary insurance amount recomputed under such subparagraph; or
"(G) who dies and whose survivors are (or would, but for the fact that such recomputation would not result in a higher primary insurance amount for such individual, be) entitled, on the basis of an application filed in or after the month in which this Act [September 1960] is enacted, to have his primary insurance amount recomputed under section 102(f)(2)(B) of the Social Security Amendments of 1954 [set out as a note under section 415 of this title].
"(2) The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall also be applicable in the case of applications for disability determination under section 216(i) of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 416(i)] filed in or after the month in which this Act is enacted [September 1960].
"(3) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this subsection, in the case of any individual who would not be a fully insured individual under section 214(a) of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 414(a)] except for the enactment of this section, no benefits shall be payable on the basis of his wages and self-employment income for any month prior to the month in which this Act is enacted [September 1960]."
Effective Date of 1954 Amendment
Act Sept. 1, 1954, ch. 1206, title I, §106(h),
Effective and Termination Date of 1952 Amendment
Act July 18, 1952, ch. 945, §3(f),
Act July 18, 1952, ch. 945, §3(g),