Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) 101

What is it?

Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability (“TDIU”) allows Veterans to be rated at 100% based on the inability to maintain substantially gainful employment due to their service-connected disability(ies), despite his or her disabilities not equating to a 100% rating themselves.

How can Veterans get it?  

VA distinguishes between substantially gainful employment and marginal employment; the key difference is whether a Veteran makes more than the federal poverty threshold in a year. 

If Veterans cannot maintain employment that pays a yearly wage above poverty level, meaning they cannot maintain substantially gainful employment, they could be eligible for TDIU. Additionally, if Veterans make more than the poverty level, but they work in a protected environment, this could still be considered marginal employment and they could also be eligible for TDIU. A protected work environment is determined on a case-by-case basis; an important consideration is whether the Veterans receive any accommodations for their service-connected disabilities in the workplace (see Labruzza v. McDonough, No. 21-4467 (Vet. App. 2024)). Self-employment can also be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Veterans seeking TDIU should file a VA Form 21-8940, Veteran’s Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability. The effective date for TDIU will not necessarily be the date of that filing, however you can learn more about that here. VA will consider (1) when the underlying claim was filed (i.e., a claim for service connection or for rating increase) and (2) when the Veteran was no longer able to maintain substantially gainful employment due to his or her service-connected disability(ies), and assign the later of those dates as the effective date for TDIU.

The VA Form 21-4192, Request for Employment Information in Connection with Claim for Disability Benefits, is a helpful piece of evidence for a TDIU claim. This form is filled out by the Veteran’s prior employer(s); VA will directly request it from employers listed on the 21-8940, or a Veteran can also gather the information from prior employers themselves. Additionally, if a Veteran attends a C&P examination for an underlying service-connected disability that makes them unable to work, they should inform the examiner of the impact the disability has on their employment.

What are the requirements?

TDIU can be awarded through one of two ways: if the schedular criteria are met or upon extraschedular consideration. The schedular criteria for TDIU require Veterans with one disability to be rated at 60% or more, and if the Veteran has two or more disabilities, one disability should be rated at 40% or more and the total combined rating should equate to 70% or more (see 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a)).

The TDIU regulation explains that the below combinations can be considered one disability for the schedular criteria:

“(1) Disabilities of one or both upper extremities, or of one or both lower extremities, including the bilateral factor, if applicable,

(2) disabilities resulting from common etiology or a single accident,

(3) disabilities affecting a single body system, e.g. orthopedic, digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular-renal, neuropsychiatric,

(4) multiple injuries incurred in action, or

(5) multiple disabilities incurred as a prisoner of war.” 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a).

If the schedular criteria are not met, VA will consider the Veterans inability to maintain substantially gainful employment due to service-connected disabilities on an extra-schedular basis.

Can Veterans still work if awarded TDIU?

If awarded TDIU, Veterans may work only if they make less than the poverty level. Self-employment may also still be allowed based on the case-specific facts. VA will look only at earned income when determining if a Veteran has made more or less than the federal poverty level, meaning only income from employment is considered. Passive income, such as income that is not actively worked for, like VA disability benefits or investments, is not included in the consideration.

Once awarded TDIU, VA will continue to monitor a Veteran’s income through a wage match with the Social Security Administration (SSA). If the data from the SSA shows a Veteran earning more than the federal poverty threshold, the Veteran will have to fill out the VA Form 21-4140, Employment Questionnaire. VA will then determine if the Veteran continues to be eligible for TDIU. A TDIU rating is therefore not permanent, and VA can take it away if the Veteran is found able to maintain substantially gainful employment again. A key difference between a 100% TDIU rating and 100% schedular rating is that a Veteran can maintain substantially gainful employment if rated 100% schedular, but not if the Veteran is granted TDIU.

It’s important to note that TDIU is a different benefit than Social Security Disability; VA will consider only whether the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities make the Veteran unable to maintain substantially gainful employment. Age is not a factor for consideration with TDIU.