Last Updated on April 17, 2024 by Ben
VA Disability and Military Retirement Pay Calculator
The VA Disability and Military Retirement Pay Calculator is a tool for military veterans to calculate their VA disability benefits and any retirement pay they may be eligible for. This calculator also takes into consideration taxes, so you can see how much your VA disability will be worth!
About Retirement Pay and Disability Compensation
If you have a retirement plan and also take a VA disability, what happens?
You may be eligible for Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP), as well as Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC).
Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP)
Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay is a plan that the U.S. government created to allow military retirees to receive both retired military pay and Veterans Affairs compensation. This was not possible before January 1, 2004, when this program started.
CRDP is a phase in benefit that gradually restores retired pay for veterans who receive VA disability benefits. This means an eligible retiree’s retired pay will slowly increase each year until the phase-in process completes, effective January 2014.
You don’t need to apply for CRDP. If you are qualified, it will be automatically set up for you.
Eligibility
To qualify for CRDP, you must be eligible for military retired pay. If you were provided a disability retirement but would be qualified for military retired pay if the condition was resolved, you may be entitled to CRDP.
If you meet these rules, you may be able to receive CRDP.
- If you are a usual retiree with a VA disability rating of 50% or more
- Suppose you are a pensioner with a VA disability rating of 50% or greater. You have 20 years of service, so you are eligible for retirement. (The retirement age for reservists is usually 60, but it may be lower in certain circumstances. For the 90 days of active service you have carried out during a fiscal year, your retirement age can be lowered below 60 by three months.)
- You are under the Temporary Early Retirement Act (TERA) and have a VA disability rating of 50% or higher.
- You are an eligible disabled retiree who was granted retired pay under any provision of law other than only by disability, and you have a VA disability rating of 50% or higher. At the time you would have qualified for retirement pay, you could be eligible for CRDP.
You may be eligible for the same payment in addition to your monthly CRDP payments. To determine whether or not you are entitled to a retroactive payment, DFAS will review your account. It’s important to double-check both VA and DFAS pay records.
If the VA determines that you are due a retroactive payment, we will submit an audit to them. They must pay any money they owe you.
Your retroactive payment date may go back to January 1, 2004. But it’s limited if:
- your retirement date or
- when you first achieved a 50 percent disability rating
The CRDP is not applicable for any month before January 2004.
Individual Unemployability
Suppose you are a military retiree who meets all of the above requirements in addition to both of the following. In that case, you will be eligible for full concurrent receipt of both your VA disability compensation and your retired pay:
- You are deemed unable to work by the VA, usually referred to as Individual Unemployability (IU).
- You’ve received VA compensation because of your IU injury.
This is effective October 1, 2008, and applies to all previously filed claims before January 1, 2005.
- How Disability Pay (CRDP) And Concurrent Retirement Works
- Eligibility Criteria for Concurrent Retirement and Disability Benefits
Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC)
The Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) program pays military retirees a monthly stipend in addition to their VA disability offset.
You may be qualified for CRSC if you receive military retired pay and fulfill one of the following conditions:
- You were given a Purple Heart with a combined disability rating of at least 10 percent from June 1, 2003, to the present.; or
- You received a combined combat-related disability rating of at least 60 percent disabled from June 1, 2003, through December 31, 2003.; or
- You have a mixed disability rating of at least 10% for all combat-related impairments that began on January 1, 2004, and continues through the present.
Your disability codes are combat-related, based on your branch of service.
If you want to be qualified, you will get your reduced retirement pay plus an extra amount that compensates for part or all of your offset retirement pay.
Your CRSC payment is calculated based on the percentage of your disability that the service determines to have been combat-related, as described above. The amount paid out will be less than your offset retired pay if the percentage is lesser than your overall VA rating.
A CRSC payment is not meant to be a return of retired pay. It’s a unique benefit payment that isn’t taxed.
Monthly retirement pay cannot exceed the lesser of gross retired pay or VA waiver amount. If you are a disability retiree, your retired pay is calculated from a percentage of your disability rather than by how many years you have been working. You can’t get more than what you would have received if you had been using the years of service instead.
Unlike CRDP, which is automatic for those who qualify, you will need to apply to your service. If you qualify, your service will tell you if you have a CRSC.
Military Disability Compensation Benefits
If you’re a military retiree with a service-connected disability, you may be eligible for monthly stipend payments. These benefits are available to veterans who became disabled as a result of an injury or sickness incurred while on active duty, training duty, or worsened due to military service.
You may have to give up a portion of your military retirement as a retiree to receive these tax-free payments. A VA disability offset, also known as a military retirement pay reduction, is the act of lowering military retirement pay. Certain disabled military retirees could be eligible for one of the following programs that restore part or all of their VA disability offset.
Components of Military Pay
Base Pay (aka Basic Pay)
The amount paid to each employee is determined by his or her rank and duration of employment. The basic wage is taxable, whereas allowances are not.
Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH)
A housing allowance for members of the military. BAH is determined by the region of duty, pay grade, and dependency status.
Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS)
The cost of a meal is offset by the BAS benefit. Enlisted personnel is eligible for the full BAS benefit, although they must pay for all meals regardless of whether or not they come from the government.
Duty Station Zip Code
BAH is an amount of money that the military pays to you. It is based on where you live, not where you work. Your BAH will be higher in urban areas than in rural areas.
Special Pay
Special Pay may be earned through specialized duties or operations. Special Pay is limited to two additional earnings per month and must be used by the end of each month.
Paygrade
A system of letters and digits to distinguish pay for military personnel.
- “E” = Enlisted Member
- “W” = Warrant Officer
- “O” = Commissioned Officer
The number reveals the level of pay for each letter, where “1” is the starting level of pay
Pay Scale Year
Military compensation typically rises each year. Choose a different pay scale year to see current, present, and future compensation.
Years of Service
The number of years a member has served in the military.
Dependents
For the pay and allowance purposes, a dependent is:
- Spouse
- Unmarried Child
Under 21
Someone who is unable to support oneself because of mental or physical incapacity and on which the servicemember relies for more than half of the child’s support
Under the age of 23, he is full-time enrolled in an institution of higher education and relies on the service member for more than half of his or her child’s support.
The term Child includes:
· Adopted child
· Stepchild
· Children outside of marriage
Parent if
Reliant on the service member for more than half of the parent’s support
The word Parent covers
· Natural, adoptive, or stepparent parent of servicemember or spouse
· Adopted child
· Children outside of marriage
Military Pay Calculator
Years of Service and rank, which usually correlate to military pay grade, influence how military compensation is determined. Pay rates are calculated on a monthly basis rather than weekly or bi-monthly instead of basic pay. Some branches allow service members to choose to receive a monthly lump sum instead of having their pay automatically divided in half and disbursed twice a month.
How to use the Military Pay Calculator
Simply provide your pay grade, years of service, and if you qualify for Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), the ZIP code, and the number of dependents for your Duty Station.
You can see the current annual and monthly compensation and what-if settings such as a BAH pay rise for getting married. You can also reboot the calculator’s results by adjusting the factors. For example, if you receive BAH, getting married or adding a child can increase your income.
To figure out how much money you’ll make in the military, use the Military Pay Calculator to compute your pay by rank, location, and branch of service. Pay estimates do not include Guard and Reserve pay from the United States’ six branches of Service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard).
For simplicity, taxable and tax-free portions are separated. Knowing which pay is tax-free might assist you in determining income tax benefits.
You could also earn more special pay based on your job duties, such as hazardous duty pay.
Conclusion
It’s important to know the difference between CRDP and CRSC. If you have a disability that is not combat-related, then your VA benefits will be reduced by an amount equal to your total compensation from the VA, but if it is related to combat service, then this reduction does not apply.
There is some key variation in how they get paid for veterans with disabilities who are eligible for both types of payments – retirement pay and disability compensation.