Free tool
TDIU eligibility checker
Enter your service-connected ratings. This checks whether you meet the schedular rating threshold for TDIU, the path to being paid at the 100 percent rate without a 100 percent rating. No signup, and nothing is stored.
Some ratings count as one disability for this test: conditions in the same body system (all your joints and spine, say, or all your digestive conditions), conditions from the same cause or the same accident, conditions of one or both arms or one or both legs, multiple combat injuries, and multiple disabilities from time as a POW. Give those ratings the same group letter and the checker combines them into one. Leave everything else on "Counts alone."
This checks only the rating math in 38 CFR §4.16(a). Meeting the numbers is only half of TDIU. You must also be unable to hold steady, substantially gainful work because of your service-connected conditions. Check "bilateral" only when both the left and right side (both knees, say) have a rating of 10 percent or more. A group is combined with VA's own math and rounded to the nearest 10, so treat the result as an estimate. Whether conditions really share a body system or a cause is VA's call on the facts. Confirm everything with a free VSO.
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What TDIU actually requires
TDIU, or total disability based on individual unemployability, pays at the 100 percent rate when service-connected conditions keep you from working, even if your combined rating is lower than 100. The schedular door in 38 CFR §4.16(a) opens two ways: one disability rated at least 60 percent, or a combined rating of at least 70 percent with at least one disability at 40 percent or more. For both tests, conditions in the same body system, from the same cause or accident, of one or both arms or one or both legs, from combat, or from time as a POW count as one disability. A back at 40 and a knee at 30 are both orthopedic, so they combine to 58, which rounds to 60, and that can meet the single-60 path. Even if you do not meet those numbers, an extraschedular path under §4.16(b) exists when your conditions still prevent work.
The rating is the gate. The real claim is proving you cannot keep substantially gainful employment. For the full breakdown, read TDIU explained.
Think you might qualify?
The VA Claims Copilot can read your decision letter, pull your real ratings, walk the TDIU test with you, and help you draft the statement that proves the work part, which is where most TDIU claims are won or lost.
This is general education, not legal advice, and not from the VA. Meeting the rating threshold does not guarantee TDIU. For your specific claim, work with a free VA-accredited representative or a Veterans Service Organization. We are not the VA and are not affiliated with the VA.