any advice would be appreciated

[tylerb333]

I was recently SC for PTSD as a result of military sexual trauma, 70 percent, and SC for Lumbosacral strain 20 percent.  I currently have a tinnitus and hearing loss appeal in.  I filed a NOD and asked for DRO.  Additionally I filed a secondary comp. claim for obsessive compulsive disorder and hep c, SMC for erectile dysfunction.  A week later I filed a claim asking for a raise of my service  connected rating and IU.  Voc rehab recently declared me unfeasible for its program and I submitted the unfeasible letter as proof for my IU.  Have I piled too much on too quickly?  My docs at the VA are now treating me for the Hep C.  MY PTSD symptoms are out of control, and I'll be attending Bay Pines in September.  I feel entitled to this compensation especially in light of my symptoms worsening.  Any advice on my winning my claim.m  And will I have to do a new C&P considering I just had one in march?  Whatcha think guys and gals?

[tylerb333]

and should i have an affidavit drawn up explaining it is a family business?  I still make under the 12,300 and some odd dollars allowed by law.

Quote

 

 

[porgee]

19 minutes ago, seminoles said:

Did you not read the portion of the rule about sheltered employment and that he is working for a family business?  THAT is not the same as working at a regular job, it is sheltered income and treated differently according to the CFR. YOU may want to read through that a bit more carefully yourself.  Also, I am not quite sure why you are so upset about or at least seem to be, maybe I am reading you wrong but if the man/woman qualifies for IU then so be it.  The VA doesn't hand out IU to anyone in my experience. 

I will try this another way YOU CANT WORK AND GET TDIU OR IU if you don't believe me  

I suggest you ask someone who know like an attorney that's how I know but you do what ever

is good for the claim. I say again Good luck I get paid and I just like to help .NFC'' no farther comments

[seminoles]

Just now, porgee said:

I will try this another way YOU CANT WORK AND GET TDIU OR IU if you don't believe me  

I suggest you ask someone who know like an attorney that's how I know but you do what ever

is good for the claim. I say again Good luck I get paid and I just like to help .NFC'' no farther comments

You don't even know how to spell

[porgee]

7 minutes ago, seminoles said:

You don't even know how to spell

 

7 minutes ago, seminoles said:

You don't even know how to spell

I know but it looks like you can read just a little but its good

[tylerb333]

How Can a Veteran Earn an Income while Receiving VA TDIU Benefits?

To answer this question, we need only look to the law.

For those of you that don’t know what TDIU is, I encourage you to read this post to get a basic understanding of the 2 types of TDIU Benefits.  To those of you trying to win your VA TDIU Claim, I encourage you to consider whether a copy of the VA TDIU Field Manual, or the VA TDIU eBook Package – will help you understand and improve your VA TDIU Claims.

38 C.F.R. §4.16(a) – the section of the Code of Federal Regulations that states the requirements for eligibility for TDIU Benefits, states the following:

Total disability ratings for compensation may be assigned, where the schedular rating is less than total, when the disabled person is, in the judgment of the rating agency, unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of service-connected disabilities

Now, as I’ve discussed before on the Veterans Law Blog, the law does not clearly define what substantiall and gainful occupation is.

But the law DOES define what Substantially Gainful employment IS NOT.

Read the rest of 38 C.F.R. §4.16(a):

Marginal employment shall NOT be considered substantially gainful employment. For purposes of this section, marginal employment generally shall be deemed to exist when a veteran’s earned annual income does not exceed the amount established by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, as the poverty threshold for one person. Marginal employment may also be held to exist, on a facts found basis (includes but is not limited to employment in a protected environment such as a family business or sheltered workshop), when earned annual income exceeds the poverty threshold. (emphasis is mine).

So there you have it – the 2 ways that Veteran can earn an income while receiving VA TDIU benefits: when the employment is “marginal” and when the employment is “sheltered”.

We’ll look at them in more detail, below.

You might ask “Why” a Veteran is allowed to earn an income in these 2 scenarios while receiving TDIU Benefits.

Truth be told, I have no clue why Congress wrote the laws this way when they wrote them – someday I’ll dig into the legislative history to understand it.

But since Congress allowed it, there is NOTHING wrong with Veterans getting Marginal or Sheltered Employment income while receiving TDIU Benefits.

#1:  Marginal Employment & TDIU Benefits.

This is the type of income that many Veterans are aware that they can receive even after being granted TDIU Benefits.

Simply go to the US Bureau of Census website, and look up the “poverty threshold for one person”.  (Click here to see the historical poverty ratings tables from 1959 – 2015).

You will see that, for 2014, the poverty threshold for one person is  $12,316 per year (if you are under 65), or $11,354 (if you are over 65).  

Each year, the VA will ask you to verify your employment (or lack thereof) to determine whether you are eligible to continue to receive TDIU Benefits. They typically require that you use VA Form 21-4140 or 21-4140-1 to do this report.

The VA does cross check 2 databases that I know of:  Social Security databases that record your work/income history, and IRS databases that record your family income on your annual tax returns.  Word to the wise: if you are telling different income stories to different federal agencies, you are playing with fire, and may even be committing fraud.

If you indicate in this form that your income is higher than the poverty threshold, a proposal to reduce your TDIU benefits will be forthcoming.

It’s one of the few times that the VA acts with a sense of purpose – when they want to STOP paying you

 

WHY ARE YOU GUYS GIVING ME BAD INFO? WTH!.

Edited June 7, 2017 by tylerb333

[seminoles]

21 hours ago, tylerb333 said:

additionally, i want to get the VA to give me a referral for a service dog, any ideas?  Who do I need to talk to?  Do they do service dogs for PTSD?  Or would it have to be solely for the physical disability?   

Not sure if you are a post 9/11 vet but this organization has been pretty great for a few friends who are post 9/11, they take care of transportation and everything. https://www.k9sforwarriors.org/