VA Form 10-8678 applies for an annual clothing allowance when a prescribed device or skin medication for a service-connected disability damages your clothing. The current form also has a box that stops all existing clothing allowance awards. Read Item 5 before checking it.

Download the current VA Form 10-8678 PDF

Get the official June 2026 PDF from VA's Form 10-8678 page. I downloaded and checked the one-page form on October 2, 2026. The edition printed at the bottom is JUN 2026; the separate OMB expiration date is June 30, 2029.

The form contains Items 1 through 8, four rows for devices or medications, and an unnumbered signature and date. Older examples may show a different arrangement. Use the labels on the current download.

At a glance:

  • Who files: A veteran seeking an initial allowance, an additional allowance, or termination of existing awards.
  • What it covers: Qualifying clothing damage from prescribed devices or skin medication used for service-connected disabilities.
  • Annual filing: The PDF says another annual application is unnecessary when your existing awards are unchanged.
  • Deadline: The form instructs applicants to submit on or before August 1 of the benefit year.
  • What needs care: Item 5 terminates all awards; it is not a renewal checkbox.

Who uses the form, and when?

The current VA clothing allowance guidance explains the connection between the disability, the treatment and the clothing damage. A prosthetic or orthopedic device must damage clothing. Skin medication counts only when it treats a service-connected skin condition and causes damage to outer clothing that cannot be repaired. A device must be used for a service-connected disability.

The PDF lists shirts, blouses, pants, skirts, shorts and similar garments. It excludes shoes, hats, scarves, underwear, socks and similar items. A prescription by itself does not establish the necessary clothing damage. Likewise, damage to something outside the listed clothing categories does not become eligible just because the treatment was prescribed.

Apply when you first seek the benefit or request an additional allowance for another qualifying device or medication. The Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service page says eligible veterans with unchanged prescribed devices or medications can receive recurring payments without an annual application. You still need to report changes that affect entitlement.

If you have never filed for disability compensation, VA's benefit page says to file that claim first. The clothing allowance form does not establish service connection. Claim Raven's 21-526EZ walkthrough explains the separate compensation application.

For an initial or additional award, plan around the August 1 deadline printed on the form. VA's benefit page says applications are collected during the year and held until the August 1 closing date, with qualifying payments between September 1 and October 31. Do not treat a later payment window as extra time to apply.

Items 1 through 4: identify yourself

Item 1 asks for your last name, first name and middle initial, in that order. The order differs from many other VA forms. Use your own legal name rather than a caregiver's name.

Item 2 asks for only the last four digits of your Social Security number. Do not automatically copy a full nine-digit number from another application into this field.

Item 3 asks for your address, including street or rural route, PO Box where applicable, city, state and ZIP code. Include an apartment or unit when it is part of your mailing address.

Item 4 asks for your telephone number with area code. Check the digits before submitting so the office can reach you if it needs clarification.

Keep prescription and device information beside you while completing the next fields. Matching the name in your treatment records is clearer than describing an appliance only as “my brace” or a medication only as “the cream.”

Item 5: stop all clothing allowance awards

Item 5 is an election to terminate the benefit because you no longer use any qualifying device, orthopedic appliance or skin medication. The warning directly below it says all awards will be terminated. If you later want recurring payments again, the form says you will need a new application.

Leave this box unchecked when you are applying for an allowance or adding an item. Do not select it simply because one device changed while you still use another qualifying item.

If you are intentionally ending all awards, the form tells you to skip Sections 6, 7 and 8. The signature and date still complete your submission. If your situation is a partial change, contact your local prosthetics office for instructions rather than using an all-awards termination box to describe it.

Items 6 through 8: connect each condition to its treatment

These three items form a grid. Read across each row so the disability, device or medication, and body area describe the same entry. The small row numbers 1 through 4 are spaces for separate entries, not new application item numbers.

Item 6: Service-connected disability. Name the condition that requires the device or medication. A list of all your service-connected conditions is less useful than identifying the condition associated with that row's treatment.

Item 7: Device, orthopedic appliance or skin medication. Enter the actual name. Use your prescription, medication label or device record to make it specific. Do not replace the treatment name with the type of clothing you want to replace.

Item 8: Body area. Mark the applicable upper or lower body area and left or right side using the boxes in the same row. The form asks about the body area affected by the device or medication. Keep that answer consistent with the condition and treatment listed beside it.

Repeat the row for other items you are reporting. Four completed rows do not automatically produce four allowances. VA evaluates entitlement; the grid records the facts it needs for that decision.

Certification, signature and date

The certification says you regularly wear or use the listed appliance that tends to wear or tear clothing, or use the listed skin medication that irreparably stains outer garments. It also says you must notify VA when you are no longer prescribed and using those items, and that VA may periodically review entitlement.

Read those statements against your actual situation. The application is not asking whether a device could damage clothing in theory.

The signature line is unnumbered and instructs you to sign in ink. Enter the signing date in month/day/year format. A typed name in Item 1 does not complete that signature line.

Fictional example: one right-knee brace

This is a fictional worksheet exercise, not a real veteran's experience or a prediction of approval. Identifying information is omitted.

Assume a veteran has a service-connected right-knee condition, regularly uses a prescribed right-knee brace, and the brace wears through trouser fabric. The veteran is applying for the first time.

  • Items 1 through 4: The veteran's own identifying and contact information.
  • Item 5: Unchecked, because the veteran is requesting the benefit.
  • Item 6, first row: The service-connected right-knee condition as identified in the veteran's records.
  • Item 7, first row: The brace's actual name from the prescription or device record.
  • Item 8, first row: Lower body and right side.
  • Remaining rows: Unused because this example involves one device.
  • Signature and date: The veteran signs in ink and enters the actual signing date.

The example shows how one row stays connected. It does not establish that every knee brace qualifies. VA still needs to determine whether this prescribed device and the reported damage meet the benefit's requirements.

Where to submit the application

VA's current benefit page offers more submission choices than the paper form prints:

  • Online: Follow the clothing allowance application link from that page or the official form page.
  • Central mail: Department of Veterans Affairs, Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444.
  • Local medical center: Bring or mail the application to the prosthetic representative at your local VA medical center. This is also the route printed on the PDF.
  • Fax: VA's prosthetics instructions list 844-531-7818 for domestic submissions and 248-524-4260 for foreign claimants.

There is no single street address for every local prosthetics office. Use VA's facility locator and confirm the appropriate office if choosing that route. Keep the completed form and your upload, mailing or fax confirmation together.

The email address in the PDF's paperwork-burden paragraph is for comments about the information collection. The form expressly says not to send completed applications there.

Mistakes to catch, and what happens afterward

Before submitting, check that you have:

  • Used the current edition and the correct benefit year deadline.
  • Left Item 5 unchecked unless you intend to stop all awards.
  • Connected each listed device or medication to its service-connected condition.
  • Identified the treatment specifically and marked the matching body area.
  • Read the certification, signed in ink and dated the form.

After submitting, retain any VA correspondence and respond to requests about the device, medication or eligibility. The published September-through-October payment window is not a promise that an incomplete or disputed application will be decided by a particular day.

If VA denies the request, use the review instructions in that decision. Claim Raven's Supplemental Claim guide explains that form, but the benefit type and the decision's instructions still determine the correct filing route.

Understand the requirement before gathering more records

If the service-connection or evidence language is confusing, Ask Raven explains VA claim questions with sources you can open. A free account includes starter messages. You can ask what a requirement means, then compare the explanation with your prescription and VA's current instructions.

For a related disability claim, Claim Raven's Evidence Checklists let you track condition-specific evidence tasks and notes. Use the official clothing allowance form as the checklist for this particular benefit.

Sources and scope

Verified October 2, 2026: the official form page, downloaded June 2026 PDF, VA clothing allowance guidance, prosthetics instructions and linked Claim Raven pages. VA's web guidance adds central mail, online and fax routes beyond the PDF's local-medical-center instructions. The prosthetics page calls the paper form “10-8678a” in one passage; the official download page and PDF identify it as 10-8678. This guide follows that download. The example is fictional.

Where to go next

Claim Raven is data analysis, not legal, medical, or VA-accredited advice. For help with an individual clothing allowance determination, contact VA's prosthetics office or an accredited representative.

-Landon Founder, Claim Raven | U.S. Army Veteran