TDIU: Individual Unemployability

Total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is a compensation path in 38 CFR 4.16. The checker below tests only the percentage rules in paragraph (a). It does not decide whether you can secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.

Combine ratings first with the VA disability calculator if you need to. Pay at the 100% rate is the same table as the 2026 pay chart. The combining steps are in how VA math works.

What 38 CFR 4.16(a) says

A total disability rating for compensation may be assigned, where the schedular rating is less than total, when the disabled person is, in the judgment of the rating agency, unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of service-connected disabilities. The regulation then sets two percentage branches:

If there is only one such disability, it shall be ratable at 60 percent or more.
If there are two or more disabilities, there shall be at least one disability ratable at 40 percent or more, and sufficient additional disability to bring the combined rating to 70 percent or more.

The regulation says marginal employment shall not be considered substantially gainful employment. It points to the Census Bureau poverty threshold for one person and does not print a dollar amount. This page does not state a poverty-threshold dollar figure. Marginal employment may also be held to exist, on a facts-found basis (including employment in a protected environment such as a family business or sheltered workshop), when earned income exceeds that threshold.

Nonservice-connected disabilities and previous unemployability status are disregarded when the paragraph (a) percentages are met and, in the judgment of the rating agency, the service-connected disabilities render the veteran unemployable.

What counts as one disability

For the “one 60 percent disability, or one 40 percent disability in combination,” 4.16(a) says the following will be considered as one disability:

Disabilities of one or both upper extremities, or of one or both lower extremities, including the bilateral factor, if applicable.
Disabilities resulting from common etiology or a single accident.
Disabilities affecting a single body system, for example orthopedic, digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular-renal, or neuropsychiatric.
Multiple injuries incurred in action.
Multiple disabilities incurred as a prisoner of war.

You choose the group in the checker. The tool does not decide whether disabilities legally belong together. A group is combined with 38 CFR 4.25 and 4.26, rounded to the nearest 10, and then counted as one disability. The bilateral factor applies inside a group when you mark paired arms or legs.

VA.gov’s shorter summary

VA.gov says you may be eligible if you can’t have substantially gainful employment because of a service-connected disability, and one of these is true: at least one service-connected disability rated at 60% or more, or two or more service-connected disabilities with at least one rated at 40% or more and a combined rating of 70% or more. That summary does not restate the regulation’s “only one disability” branch. The checker reports both wordings when they differ.

Percentage check

Pay at the 100% rate

VA.gov says if you qualify for compensation at the 100% rate because you can’t work, VA calls this benefit Individual Unemployability, and compensation is paid at the same level as a veteran who has a 100% disability rating. In VA’s example, a heart condition rated 60% can result in compensation increased to the 100% rate. The 100% amount with dependents is the published rate, plus SMC-K if you enter awards. For a veteran alone in 2026, that basic rate is $3,938.58 per month (effective December 1, 2025).

VA.gov links the application forms VA Form 21-8940 and VA Form 21-4192. For free help with a claim, find a VA-accredited representative.

Extra-schedular referral, 4.16(b)

Paragraph (b) states it is VA’s policy that all veterans who are unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation by reason of service-connected disabilities shall be rated totally disabled. Rating boards should submit to the Director, Compensation Service, for extra-schedular consideration all cases of veterans who are unemployable by reason of service-connected disabilities but who fail to meet the percentage standards in paragraph (a). This page does not decide whether a case should be referred.

Sources

38 CFR 4.16. eCFR title 38 latest issue date August 27, 2026 (up to date as of October 16, 2026). Text retrieved October 20, 2026. Authority cited in the section: 38 USC 501.
VA.gov, Individual Unemployability. Page date April 27, 2026. Retrieved October 20, 2026.
100% pay: VA.gov veteran rates, effective December 1, 2025, checked October 19, 2026. 2027 figures are the labeled COLA estimate.
Combining inside a group: 38 CFR 4.25 and 38 CFR 4.26.

Last checked October 20, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Does TDIU change my rating to 100%?

VA.gov says Individual Unemployability pays at the same level as a veteran with a 100% disability rating. The rating itself does not become 100%. This page shows the 100% compensation rate for the dependents you enter.

What if my percentages miss 4.16(a)?

38 CFR 4.16(b) says rating boards should submit, for extra-schedular consideration, cases of veterans who are unemployable because of service-connected disabilities but who do not meet the paragraph (a) percentages. This checker does not decide that referral.

Why can the regulation and VA.gov disagree?

The regulation’s two-disability branch requires one disability of at least 40% and a combined rating of at least 70%. VA.gov’s summary says at least one disability of 60% or more, or two or more disabilities with one at 40% and a combined rating of 70%. A 60% rating plus a separate 10% meets the VA.gov wording and does not meet the regulation’s branches. The checker shows both results.