VA Back Pay Calculator

Estimate retroactive VA disability compensation by adding the monthly rate for each payable month. You enter the effective date (or more than one, if the combined rating changed), dependents, and an end date. The tool does not decide the effective date.

Use the VA disability calculator if you still need a combined rating. Monthly amounts come from the same tables as the 2026 pay chart. Combining rules are explained in how VA math works.

How the months are chosen

38 USC 5111(a)(1) says payment of monetary benefits based on an award or an increased award of compensation may not be made for any period before the first day of the calendar month following the month in which the award or increased award became effective. That is true even when the effective date is the first of a month: an effective date in January is not paid for January. Payment in this tool starts in February.

VA.gov describes the effective date as “the day you can start getting your disability benefits.” The statute is more specific about the first payable day. This calculator sums whole months under 5111(a)(1). It does not prorate a partial month.

Two parts of 5111 are explained here and are not calculated:

5111(a)(2). For a veteran retired or separated for a catastrophic disability, payment based on an original claim is made as of the date the award becomes effective. The statute defines catastrophic disability. This tool does not prorate that first month, so it is not the right total for that exception.
5111(b). Between the effective date and the start of payment under subsection (a), the person is deemed to be in receipt of the benefits for purposes of laws administered by the Secretary. That deeming rule does not add a payment in this estimate.

Where the effective date comes from

38 CFR 3.400 says that, except as otherwise provided, the effective date of an evaluation and award of compensation based on an initial claim or supplemental claim will be the date of receipt of the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later.

For direct service connection, 3.400(b)(2)(i) says the effective date is the day following separation from active service or the date entitlement arose if the claim is received within 1 year after separation. Otherwise it is the date of receipt of the claim, or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later. Increases under 3.400(o) are generally the date of receipt of the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later, with exceptions in that paragraph. VA.gov’s effective-date page walks through examples. Type the date from the decision letter. Do not treat this page as a way to pick one.

Which rate table applies

VA publishes a new compensation table effective December 1. This tool includes official tables effective December 1, 2022 (2023 rates), December 1, 2023 (2024), December 1, 2024 (2025), and December 1, 2025 (2026). A month before December 2022 is omitted. No rate is invented for it.

December 2026 through November 2027 use the 2027 estimate: each official 2026 amount times the 3.6% COLA, rounded to the cent. Those months are labeled estimate. Months after November 2027 are omitted.

The total is the sum of those monthly rates. It does not subtract offsets such as military retired pay, separation pay, or drill pay. SMC levels L through S are not in this back-pay total. SMC-K, if you enter awards, uses that year’s published add-on.

For free help reading a decision, find a VA-accredited representative. Accredited VSO services on a VA claim are free.

Sources

38 USC 5111 (Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute). Last checked October 20, 2026. The House Office of the Law Revision Counsel site was unavailable that day.
38 CFR 3.400. eCFR title 38 latest issue date August 27, 2026 (up to date as of October 16, 2026). Text retrieved October 20, 2026.
VA.gov, Disability compensation effective dates. Page date September 22, 2026. Retrieved October 20, 2026.
2023 rates (effective December 1, 2022), 2024 rates (effective December 1, 2023), 2025 rates (effective December 1, 2024), and 2026 rates (effective December 1, 2025, checked October 19, 2026).
SMC-K add-on for past years: 2023, 2024, and 2025 SMC pages. Retrieved October 20, 2026. Full L–S tables for those years are not loaded here.
2027 estimate: SSA COLA announcement, October 14, 2026. See how the estimate is built.

Last checked October 20, 2026, except the 2026 basic rate table, which was checked October 19, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

When does VA disability pay start?

Under 38 USC 5111(a)(1), payment of compensation based on an award or increased award may not be made for any period before the first day of the calendar month following the month in which the award became effective. This calculator follows that rule. It does not apply the catastrophic-disability exception in 5111(a)(2).

Does this tool decide my effective date?

No. You enter the effective date from a VA decision. 38 CFR 3.400 has the general rules, including direct service connection. VA.gov also explains examples. If the decision and this estimate disagree, the decision controls.

Which rate table does each month use?

Each official table on VA.gov is effective December 1. A month uses the table whose December 1 effective date covers it. December 2026 through November 2027 use the labeled 2027 COLA estimate, because VA had not published a 2027 table when these pages were checked.