A business is seasonal if it does not function for one or more months in a given year.
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Do not subject a beneficiary to work deductions if he or she does not in any way hold
himself or herself out as available to perform any business-related activity during
such an inactive period.
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Accept the beneficiary's allegation regarding his or her seasonal self-employment
unless circumstances raise a doubt as to the accuracy of the allegation. In such cases,
get corroborative evidence.
EXAMPLE: A beneficiary in Mexico owns a small farm on which he grows corn that he sells on
the local market. From March through October of each year he spends more than 45 hours
a month tending the soil, overseeing the farm operations, ordering supplies for the
farm, transporting the corn to the market, and offering the corn for sale. From November
through February his land lies fallow and, except for a few vegetables he grows for
home consumption, the farm is inactive.
Since the beneficiary actively participates in the operation of the farm from March
through October, he is subject to foreign work deductions for those months. Even though
he still owned the farm for November through February, however, it was not a functioning
business for those four months. Therefore, he is not subject to foreign work deductions
for November through February.