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VA Disability Back Pay Calculator

The button below will take you to the calculator. By clicking the button below, you acknowledge that this calculator is meant to be an estimation of your possible retro benefits. By no means is this program meant to produce an exact amount of your benefits.

How does VA calculate back pay?

Retro back pay VA benefits can be difficult to calculate if there are changes from the date of the retro payment to the date of the rating decision.  There are multiple factors that come into play that can directly impact the payment amount such as:

  1. Did the veteran already have a VA rating or a combined rating?
  2. How far back does the condition go?
  3. Did the veteran have a change in the number of dependents (dependent parents included) or veterans benefits eligibility?

If a veteran is already rated, to accurately estimate retro benefits vets have to calculate the difference between what he or she was paid and what he or she should have been paid.  For example, if the veteran was paid at 50% for PTSD  or exposure to Agent Orange before this decision and now they will be paid at 70%  plus individual unemployability for PTSD, then their retroactive VA disability pay will be the difference between the two going back to the effective date.

It is common for a veteran’s dependent status to change throughout the history of the veteran’s claim.  The veteran might have a child,  their marital status may change, or a current dependent child might grow old enough to no longer be dependent in the veteran’s care.  Furthermore, that veteran might get married or divorced during the time of the claim.  Finally, there are typically cost of living changes (COLA) made every year adjusting the amount the VA pays.  These changes could be a few dollars to a hundred dollars per month.  All of these issues play into a veteran’s retro payment.  Not accounting for them can cost the veteran hundreds or even thousands of dollars in backlog retro benefits.

Is VA Disability back pay paid in a lump sum?

Yes. The lump sum payment for benefits that have been accumulating since the filing of a granted claim is known as back pay or retroactive compensation. After the receipt of benefits, retroactive payments come in a single amount, typically in one payment at once.

Start VA Back Pay / Retro Calculator

The button below will take you to the calculator. By clicking the button below, you acknowledge that this calculator is meant to be an estimation of your possible retro benefits. By no means is this program meant to produce an exact amount of your VA disability benefits or your exact VA disability rating, compensation rates may vary slightly from case to case.

To begin, select the year and month when you first should have gotten a larger disability payment than you received.

Select Date

On this date, what percentage should the VA have been paying you?

On this date, how many dependent children did you have who were under the age of 18?

On this date, what was your marital status?

At this time, did your spouse require Aid and Attendance(A/A)?

On this date, what disability percentage was used to determine your payment?

On this date, how many dependent children did you have who were between the ages of 18 and 24?

On this date, how many dependent parents did you have?

Record a Change

If any of the above information changed through this retro payment period then click the button below, choose the date of the change and fill in the information. You may enter as many changes as needed and you can enter them in any order you want. Examples of changes could be if your rating changed through the years (i.e. it you were granted 50% from the original date and then it was raised to 70% a couple years later) or your marriage status or number of dependents changed.