Calculator

VA Back Pay Estimator

Calculate potential retroactive pay from your Intent to File date.

Free, no sign-in, and built on the current VA rate tables. The calculator runs in your browser on this page.

How back pay is calculated

When VA grants a claim it pays from the effective date, not from the decision date. Under 38 CFR 3.400 the effective date is generally the date VA received the claim, or the date entitlement arose if that is later. An Intent to File (38 CFR 3.155) holds that date for up to a year, so a claim completed inside the year is paid from the day the Intent to File arrived.

Payment for any month starts on the first day of the month after the effective date (38 U.S.C. 5111). The months between that day and the first regular payment arrive as one retroactive payment, usually called back pay.

This estimator multiplies the current monthly rate for the rating and dependents you expect by the number of full months since your Intent to File date.

A worked example

Intent to File in January, decision at 70 percent in October

1. Intent to File received January 10. Claim filed in June, inside the one-year window, so the effective date is January 10.
2. Payment begins February 1, the first of the month after the effective date.
3. The decision arrives October 20 and the first regular payment comes November 1. February through October is nine months.
4. Nine months at the veteran-alone 70 percent rate of $1,808.45 is $16,276.05 in retroactive pay, before any dependents.

What this estimate leaves out

• Back pay is calculated at the rate in effect for each month, so months before the last December rate change are paid at the older, slightly lower rate. This estimate uses today's rate throughout.
• The estimate assumes VA grants the rating you enter. VA may grant a different rating, a different effective date, or nothing.
• Claims filed within one year of separation, increases based on a date the condition worsened, and some liberalizing-law claims have their own effective-date rules that can reach further back.

Questions veterans ask

Does back pay start from the Intent to File date or the claim date?

From the Intent to File date, as long as the claim is filed within one year of it. Filing the claim later than a year loses the earlier date.

When is back pay paid?

As a single deposit, typically within a few weeks of the decision, separate from the first regular monthly payment.

Is back pay taxed?

No. Retroactive VA disability compensation is tax-free like the monthly payments.

Does the Intent to File cost anything?

No. It is free on VA.gov, by phone, or on VA Form 21-0966, and no one may charge you for it.

Read next

• File your Intent to File
• How VA disability back pay is calculated
• Intent to File: lock in your effective date
• What is an Intent to File and why does it matter

Sources

• 38 CFR 3.400, general effective dates
• 38 CFR 3.155, how to file a claim (Intent to File)
• 38 U.S.C. 5111, commencement of the period of payment
• About VA Form 21-0966, Intent to File

Other calculators

• VA Combined Rating: How several ratings combine and round.
• Monthly Compensation: Tax-free monthly pay by rating and dependents.
• Hearing Loss Rating: Your audiogram through VA's Tables VI and VII.
• Military Buy-Back: Cost and payoff of buying back active-duty time.
• FERS Pension: Pension from High-3, years, and multiplier.
• TSP Growth: Thrift Savings Plan balance over time.
• COLA Growth: How cost-of-living adjustments change retired pay.
• GI Bill: Post-9/11 tuition and housing allowance.
• Sick Leave Credit: Unused sick leave as FERS service credit.

YourVABenefits is software you run on your own records. It is not part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and does not file claims. You file on VA.gov, or an accredited representative files for you at no charge.