VA Disability Compensation Guide: Rates, Eligibility and How to Apply

VA disability compensation is, in VA's words, "a monthly tax-free payment to Veterans who got sick or injured while serving in the military and to Veterans whose service made an existing condition worse." The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) pays it under 38 U.S.C. Chapter 11. The amount depends on your combined rating, not on income, savings or whether you work.

It is not insurance and it is not a pension. 2 programs get confused with it:

• Veterans Pension is need-based. It is for wartime veterans with low income and limited net worth who are 65 or older, permanently and totally disabled, in a nursing home, or receiving Social Security disability. No service-connected condition is needed. VA's pension eligibility page has the rules; the aid and attendance guide covers its add-ons for veterans who need daily help.
• Social Security disability is a separate program with its own test: an impairment that keeps you from substantial work for at least 1 year. Social Security says "receiving Veterans Affairs compensation will not affect your Social Security benefits," and that a 100% Permanent and Total (P&T) rating does not guarantee Social Security disability, though it gets priority processing. See Social Security's Disability Benefits for Wounded Warriors (PDF).

You can receive compensation and Social Security at the same time. You cannot draw compensation and pension for the same period; under 38 CFR 3.700 VA pays only the greater benefit.

The rates below took effect December 1, 2025. Congress raises them each year to match the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The 2026 COLA was 2.8%, applied to veterans by Public Law 119-42, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2025, signed November 25, 2025. The next change is due December 1, 2026.

Veterans rated 10% or 20% receive the same amount with or without dependents. Add-ons begin at 30%.

Source: https://www.va.gov/disability/compensation-rates/veteran-rates/, effective December 1, 2025.

Dependent parents add more. VA checks a parent's dependency on VA Form 21P-509.

Source: https://www.va.gov/disability/compensation-rates/veteran-rates/, effective December 1, 2025.

For more than 1 child, or a spouse who needs daily help, VA adds a fixed amount on top of the row that fits you.

Source: https://www.va.gov/disability/compensation-rates/veteran-rates/, effective December 1, 2025.

Combinations not shown here, such as a spouse, 1 child and 2 parents, are on the VA rates page and in the 2026 rates post.

No. IRS Publication 525 says not to include in income "any veterans' benefits paid under any law, regulation, or administrative practice administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs," and lists "disability compensation and pension payments for disabilities" first. You do not report it on your federal return, and most states start from federal taxable income, so it is not taxed at the state level either.

Because it is not earned income, compensation does not reduce Social Security retirement or disability benefits. Need-based programs such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Medicaid have their own income rules; check with that agency.

VA's eligibility page sets a 2-part test. You may be eligible if both of these are true:

• You have a current illness or injury (a "condition") that affects your mind or body, and
• You served on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training.

And at least 1 of these must be true:

• You got sick or injured while serving and can link the condition to that illness or injury (in-service), or
• You had a condition before you joined and service made it worse (pre-service), or
• You have a disability related to active-duty service that did not appear until after you left (post-service).

There is no minimum number of days of service for compensation; the 90-day rule belongs to pension. The condition does not have to affect your ability to work, and medical evidence does not have to come from any particular kind of provider.

An other than honorable, bad conduct or dishonorable discharge may disqualify you, subject to a Character of Discharge review.

For some conditions VA presumes the link to service: chronic illnesses that appear within 1 year of discharge, illnesses tied to toxic exposures such as burn pits and Agent Orange, a list the PACT Act expanded by more than 20 conditions, and conditions related to time as a prisoner of war. Presumptive claims skip the nexus step but still need a diagnosis.

VA rates each service-connected condition from 0% to 100%, in 10% steps, using the Schedule for Rating Disabilities, 38 CFR Part 4. The schedule gives each condition a diagnostic code and says what each percentage requires. VA usually schedules a VA claim exam (also called a C&P exam) to record the findings the schedule asks about.

If you have more than 1 rating, VA does not add them. It combines them with the "whole person" table in 38 CFR 4.25 and rounds to the nearest 10, so 50% and 30% combine to 70%. That combined number sets your row in the tables above. The math is explained in understanding VA disability ratings and the combined rating calculator; the schedule itself is covered in the rating schedule guide.

Veterans who cannot keep a steady job because of service-connected conditions may be paid at the 100% rate through Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU). The total disability benefits guide covers TDIU, 100% and P&T.

Dependents. At a combined rating of 30% or higher you can add a spouse, unmarried children and dependent parents. A child counts while under 18, from 18 to 23 while in school, or at any age if permanently disabled before 18. Use VA Form 21-686c to add or remove a spouse or child, VA Form 21-674 for a child 18 to 23 in school, and VA Form 21P-509 for a parent, with your claim or afterward. Report a divorce or a child leaving school, or VA will recover the overpayment.

Special Monthly Compensation (SMC). SMC is extra pay under 38 CFR 3.350 for specific losses and needs. The most common levels, effective December 1, 2025, veteran alone:

• SMC-K, $139.87 a month, for loss or loss of use of a hand, foot, creative organ or similar, added to any rating from 0% to 100%; VA can pay 1 to 3 K awards.
• SMC-S, $4,408.53, replaces the 100% rate when you have a single 100% disability plus others independently ratable at 60% or more, or when you cannot leave the house because of service-connected disabilities.
• SMC-L, $4,900.83 ($5,120.42 with a spouse), for loss of both feet or one hand and one foot, blindness in both eyes at 5/200 or less, being permanently bedridden, or needing daily help with basic needs such as eating, dressing and bathing.

The full SMC table, from L 1/2 through R.2/T, is in the total disability benefits guide. The pension version of aid and attendance is in the aid and attendance guide.

1. Submit an Intent to File, VA Form 21-0966. It "sets a potential start date" and gives you 1 year to finish the claim. File it online at VA.gov, by phone, by mail, in person or through a representative. If you start the 21-526EZ online with a verified account, the intent is recorded for you.
2. Gather your evidence. Your DD214, service treatment records, current medical records showing a diagnosis, and lay statements. The filing your first claim guide has a checklist.
3. File VA Form 21-526EZ. Online at VA.gov, by mail, in person at a regional office, or through a VA-accredited Veterans Service Organization (VSO), agent or attorney. Nobody may charge you for an initial claim.
4. Attend the VA claim exam if VA schedules one. The examiner records findings on a Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ); see C&P exam preparation.
5. Add dependents. File VA Form 21-686c (and 21-674 or 21P-509 where they apply) so the dependent rate starts with the award.

VA publishes a rolling average on its claim process page: 68.4 days to complete disability-related claims in August 2026. The decision letter follows by mail within about 10 business days and lists each condition, its rating, the effective date and the date payments start.

Effective date. The effective date is "the day you can start getting your disability benefits." For a direct service-connected claim it is the later of the date VA received your claim (or Intent to File) and the date the condition began. File within 1 year of separation and it can be the day after you left service. An increase can be dated back up to 1 year if the evidence shows the condition was worse by then.

First payment. VA says that if your decision shows at least a 10% rating, "you'll get your first payment within 15 days," by direct deposit or check. It includes what VA owes from the effective date. After that, compensation arrives once a month. Set up or change direct deposit in your VA.gov profile.

Watch out: The effective date is set by when VA receives your Intent to File or claim, not by when you got sick. Waiting until every record is in hand delays the date. Submit the Intent to File first, then build the claim within the year.

You have 1 year from the date on your decision letter to choose a review lane and keep the original effective date. All 3 are described on VA's decision review pages:

• Higher-Level Review, VA Form 20-0996. A senior reviewer looks for errors in the same evidence. No new evidence.
• Supplemental Claim, VA Form 20-0995. For new and relevant evidence VA has not seen.
• Board Appeal, VA Form 10182. A Veterans Law Judge reviews the case, with or without a hearing.

Choosing between them is covered in the VA disability appeal guide. If the condition has simply gotten worse, that is an increase claim on VA Form 21-526EZ, not an appeal; see how to increase a VA disability rating and the VA 5-year rule on rating protection.

Compensation is federal, but the rating behind it opens state benefits too. Most states tie property tax exemptions to a rating threshold, often 50%, 70% or 100% P&T. Many waive vehicle registration, hunting and fishing licenses or park entry at set percentages, and several offer tuition waivers for children of veterans rated 100%. A compensable rating also brings VA health care enrollment; see what VA health care covers.