JM,
What I assert is more the way now than it ever was.
I have heard rare stories of everything from mortgage trauma to alimony defaults caused by reliance on flawed assumptions and a reliance on ‘surplus’ allowances being brought home as ‘income’;.... a LONG time ago & well before the banking inquiry.🙄 Those few who used the ploy you’ve described found that, when the allowances stopped (injury, illness, retirement, reduced flying after SARS & 9/11 etc) the financial commitment was beyond reach.... & ruinous.
I would be very surprised these days if anyone could convince a bank to consider allowances as income for the purpose of a mortgage or investment loan. The real “major problem” seems to be that some think allowances are just money for nothing and should be considered as income, quoted to disingenuously inflate remuneration figures, despite agreements which quantify what are the reasonable amounts for their purpose.
We’ll have to agree to disagree on this.😉