This situation comes up often, and the confusion is understandable because there are two different ways to reach a 100% rating, and they have very different rules about working.
The first is a schedular 100% rating, meaning your service-connected conditions, combined under 38 CFR 4.25, add up to 100% on their own. If your rating is schedular 100%, there is no income limit and no restriction on working. You can earn any amount of money, full-time or otherwise, and it does not affect your rating, because the rating is not based on your ability to work — it is based on the severity of your conditions.
Official 2026 VA monthly compensation, including the 2.8% COLA increase.
Dependent add-ons start at a 30% rating. Child-only and dependent-parent rates: see the full 2026 pay chart.
| Rating | Monthly (2026, incl. 2.8% COLA) |
|---|---|
| 10% | $180.42 |
| 20% | $356.66 |
| 30% | $552.47 |
| 40% | $795.84 |
| 50% | $1,132.90 |
| 60% | $1,435.02 |
| 70% | $1,808.45 |
| 80% | $2,102.15 |
| 90% | $2,362.30 |
| 100% | $3,938.58 |
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Analyze my claim free →The second is Individual Unemployability (IU or TDIU), granted under 38 CFR 4.16 when your combined schedular rating is less than 100% but your service-connected conditions still prevent you from securing or maintaining substantially gainful employment. IU pays at the 100% rate, but it is conditioned on you not engaging in substantially gainful employment, except for marginal or protected/sheltered employment. VA generally uses the federal poverty threshold as a guide for what counts as marginal income. If you exceed that threshold in regular employment, VA can schedule a review and potentially reduce your rating back to the schedular percentage, since the basis for IU (inability to work) would no longer apply.
When a decision letter shows a schedular increase to 100% but also says IU is continued, it usually means one of two things: either VA increased your combined schedular rating to 100% on its own merits and simply left the IU code in place administratively (sometimes done to protect entitlement to ancillary benefits like SMC-S or to preserve an earlier effective date), or the increase brought you close to 100% but IU is still technically what completes the picture for compensation purposes. The distinction matters entirely for whether working affects your pay.
The only reliable way to know which situation applies is to read the rating decision codesheet itself, not a verbal summary from a staff member. It will list each disability's percentage, show the combined schedular total, and indicate whether IU is listed as a separate basis for the 100% level. If the codesheet shows the combined schedule already equals 100% without needing IU, working freely is safe. If IU is still doing the work to reach 100%, going over the substantially gainful employment threshold puts the rating at risk of review.
Request and carefully review the full rating decision codesheet, and if it's unclear, consider having a VSO or accredited representative confirm in writing whether your 100% is schedular or IU-based before accepting new employment.
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