VA Clothing Allowance 2026: Amount, Eligibility, Deadline

The VA clothing allowance is a once-a-year payment for veterans whose service-connected disability requires a prosthetic or orthopedic device, or a skin medicine, that damages their clothes. The current rate is $1,053.19 per allowance, effective December 1, 2025, and some veterans qualify for more than one. To get a given year's payment you need to qualify by August 1, and if you do, VA pays between September 1 and October 31. Once you're approved, the payment renews on its own unless you opt out or VA finds you no longer qualify.

This is a disability benefit, not a home-loan benefit. We cover it because some veterans who get it are also thinking about a VA home loan, and the service-connected disability behind it can matter when you buy a house. That connection is at the end.

VA clothing allowance rates by year

The clothing allowance has gone up each December 1 under the annual veterans' cost-of-living adjustment law. These are the amounts VA has published on its current and past rates pages:

Sources: VA's current rates and its past-rates pages for 2025, 2024 and 2023.

If you're searching in late 2026, note that VA hadn't posted a December 1, 2026 rate as of October 18, 2026. The next increase depends on Congress. Two bills titled the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2026, H.R. 8552 and S. 4487, name "the dollar amount under section 1162" (the clothing allowance) among the amounts that would rise, as introduced, on December 1, 2026, by the same percentage as Social Security benefits. Until VA publishes a new figure, $1,053.19 is the number to plan on.

What more than one allowance adds up to

The chart multiplies VA's per-allowance rate. Whether you get one, two or more depends on how many qualifying items you use and which clothes they damage, covered below.

Who qualifies for the VA clothing allowance

VA's clothing allowance page sets two tests, and you have to pass both.

1. One of these must be true:

• Your prosthetic or orthopedic device damages your clothes, or
• Your skin medicine causes damage to your outer clothing (like your pants or shirt) that can't be repaired.

2. And this must be true:

• You need the device or skin medicine because of a service-connected condition.

VA's examples of devices include an artificial limb, a brace and a wheelchair. The regulation, 38 CFR § 3.810, also covers a disability VA compensates under 38 U.S.C. 1151 as if it were service connected.

You also need a disability claim on file. VA says that if you haven't filed a claim for disability compensation yet, you'll need to do that first. Neither VA's page nor the regulation sets a minimum rating percentage for the clothing allowance. One of the regulation's two routes, described below, does apply only to loss or loss of use of a hand or foot paid at certain special monthly compensation rates.

What clothing counts

VA Form 10-8678 is specific. Shirts, blouses, pants, skirts, shorts and similar garments that a qualifying device or medication permanently damages are considered. Shoes, hats, scarves, underwear, socks and similar items are not. For skin medicine, the regulation's wording is "irreparable damage" to outergarments, so a stain that washes out won't qualify.

Who decides your claim

The regulation gives two routes. In one, the Under Secretary for Health or a designee certifies that the device or medication meets the rules. In the other, a VA exam or medical report establishes the allowance for a veteran who uses one qualifying device because of service-connected loss or loss of use of a hand or foot at certain special monthly compensation levels.

In practice, the form tells veterans who have already filed a compensation claim to send it to the Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service at their VA medical center. VA's page also accepts it by mail at the Janesville Claims Intake Center or by fax.

How many allowances you can get

The regulation sets out three situations.

1. One allowance. You use one qualifying device or one skin medication for one skin condition.
2. One allowance per item. If you use more than one qualifying device or medication and each affects a distinct type of clothing, you get an allowance for each, per 3.810(a)(2). Say a leg prosthesis wears through your pants and a back brace wears through your shirts. That can be two allowances ($2,106.38 a year at the current rate), if each item meets the rules.
3. Two allowances for one type of clothing. If you use more than one qualifying device, medications for more than one skin condition, or a device and a medication, and together they damage the same type of clothing at an increased rate, you get two allowances, per 3.810(a)(3).

VA's page words this more loosely. Under "What kind of clothing allowance can I get?" it lists having more than one device, more than one skin medicine, or a device or skin medicine that affects more than one type of clothing. The regulation's per-item rules above are what set the count, so if a single item damages several kinds of clothing, ask VA how it will be counted.

How to apply

You can apply online through VA.gov or use VA Form 10-8678, the Application for Annual Clothing Allowance (revised June 2026). VA's page lists four ways to submit:

The form itself asks for little: your name, the last four of your SSN, address and phone, and then up to four rows listing the service-connected disability, the name of the device, orthopedic appliance or skin medication, and which part of the body it affects (upper or lower, left or right). VA estimates it takes about 10 minutes.

Read two parts of the form carefully before you sign:

• Box 5 is the opt-out box. Checking it stops every award you have. Don't check it unless you've actually stopped using every qualifying item.
• The certification is a promise to report changes. By signing, you agree to tell VA when you're no longer prescribed and using the listed items, and you acknowledge that VA can periodically review your eligibility.

If you have questions, VA's page lists 800-827-1000 (TTY: 711), Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET.

The August 1 date and the regulation's filing window

August 1 is the date the allowance is tied to every year. VA's page says that to get an annual payment, or to apply for an additional allowance, "you'll need to qualify by August 1 of that year." Applications come in all year and VA holds them until that date. If you qualify, the money arrives between September 1 and October 31. VA's rates page puts it more simply: submit your application on or before August 1, 2026, to get a clothing allowance for 2026.

The regulation has more room in it than that. 38 CFR § 3.810(c) says:

• One-year filing window. The application for a given August 1 must be filed within one year of that date. The window includes August 1 itself and ends July 31 of the following year. An application filed later can only be used for a later year's payment.
• Late service-connection decisions. If VA grants service connection for the qualifying disability after an August 1 date you'd otherwise be entitled for, you can apply within one year of the date VA notified you of that decision.

Our advice: apply as soon as you qualify, and before August 1. If you've already missed it, apply anyway and ask VA which year the application covers. Don't write the year off on your own.

First year vs automatic renewal

For many veterans, the clothing allowance used to mean filing a new application every year. The law changed on December 29, 2022. The amended 38 U.S.C. § 1162 now says payments "shall continue on an automatically recurring annual basis" until either you choose to stop them or VA determines you're no longer eligible after a review.

In practice:

• First year: you apply, VA decides, and if you qualify by August 1 you're paid that fall.
• Following years: you aren't required to reapply. VA's page says that if you received a payment in 2022 or 2023 you no longer need to apply each year, and the form says an annual application isn't needed if you aren't changing your existing award.
• Adding an allowance: if you start using a new qualifying device or medication, you file a new application for the additional allowance.
• Reviews: the law tells VA to review claims. For items whose damage to clothing is as likely as not to stay the same, you stay eligible until you tell VA you've stopped using the item or VA finds otherwise. VA may also ask you to confirm you're still using an item past its expected lifespan. For other claims, VA can require you to recertify, but not more than once a year.

If a review finds you no longer qualify, the law says VA must send you a notice of that decision describing the actions you can take, including the review options in 38 U.S.C. 5104C, and discontinue the allowance. VA's page also notes that payments may be stopped or reduced if you no longer meet the requirements.

How the payment arrives

The regulation describes the allowance as payable "in a lump sum," and VA's page calls it a payment you receive once a year. It isn't added to your monthly compensation check. With two or more allowances, the amounts add up (see the chart above). VA's form page links to the VA.gov tools for updating your direct deposit and address, so check those before the September 1 to October 31 window.

If you qualified for 2026 and nothing has arrived by October 31, 2026, call VA at 800-827-1000.

How it fits with your other VA disability benefits

The clothing allowance sits alongside several other benefits that depend on a service-connected condition. Each has its own application.

• Disability compensation. The clothing allowance requires a service-connected disability. The monthly compensation payment is a separate benefit, set by your rating.
• HISA grant. The same VA medical center prosthetics service that handles clothing allowance claims also runs the HISA grant, which pays up to $6,800 or $2,000 over your lifetime for medically needed home changes such as a ramp or roll-in shower (lower limits apply if you first applied before May 5, 2010).
• SAH and SHA grants. Veterans with severe, specific disabilities, such as loss or loss of use of more than one limb, may qualify for much larger VBA grants to build or adapt a home. Our SAH grant guide covers how that works with a VA purchase loan.

Does the clothing allowance matter for a VA home loan?

Not directly. VA doesn't list the clothing allowance among the reasons a borrower skips the funding fee, and it doesn't change your home loan entitlement.

The disability behind it can matter, though. VA's funding fee page says you won't pay the VA funding fee if you're receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability. For a first-use purchase loan with less than 5% down, VA lists the fee as 2.15%, which is $6,450 on a $300,000 loan. If your rating is 0% and you receive no compensation, that exemption doesn't apply on that basis. Our guide to the VA funding fee exemption explains who qualifies and how to get a refund if your rating comes through after closing. If your rating is 100%, the 100 percent disabled veteran home loan guide covers what that rating does and doesn't change. Many states also offer property tax exemptions for disabled veterans. You can see where your combined rating lands with the VA disability rating calculator.

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Bottom line

The VA clothing allowance pays $1,053.19 per allowance at the rate effective December 1, 2025, to veterans whose service-connected device or skin medicine damages their clothes. Qualify by August 1, expect the payment between September 1 and October 31, and you generally won't need to reapply each year unless you're adding an allowance or VA asks you to recertify. If you're also thinking about buying a home, start with a 2-minute eligibility check. If you receive VA disability compensation, make sure your lender knows, because VA waives the funding fee in that case.