VA clothing allowance who qualifies, the 2026 amount, the August 1 date and VA Form 10-8678
The VA clothing allowance pays $1,053.19 once a year for each prosthetic or orthopedic device, or prescribed skin medication, that damages your clothes because of a service-connected condition. Apply on VA Form 10-8678 or online by August 1 to be paid that fall.
How the Board ruled on the clothing allowance, 2021 to 2026
1,841
decided rulings in Claim Raven's library of Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions
- 39.0%granted
- 26.4%sent back
- 34.6%denied
- $1,053.19for each allowance, effective December 1, 2025
- August 1the date each year's allowance comes due
- 1,841decided Board rulings on the clothing allowance, 2021 to 2026
- 96.0%granted when the Board relied most on the veteran's own account
Amount and dates: VA.gov. Board figures: Claim Raven's analysis of Board of Veterans' Appeals rulings on the clothing allowance, 2021 to 2026.
On this page
What is the VA clothing allowance?
The VA clothing allowance is a once-a-year, lump-sum payment of $1,053.19 (the amount in effect since December 1, 2025) for each prosthetic or orthopedic device, or skin medication, that damages your clothing because of a service-connected condition (38 CFR 3.810, 38 U.S.C. 1162).
- It isn't a rating. It doesn't change your disability percentage or your monthly pay. It is paid once a year, in addition to your compensation.
- You need a service-connected condition first. The device or medication has to be for a service-connected disability, or one VA pays for under Section 1151 as if it were service connected. If you haven't filed a disability claim yet, that comes first.
- VA health care certifies it. Except for devices tied to SMC for loss of use of a hand or foot, VA's health care side certifies eligibility (38 CFR 3.810(a)(1)(ii)), and the prosthetic representative at your VA medical center accepts applications.
Who qualifies for the VA clothing allowance
You qualify when, because of a service-connected condition, you wear or use a prosthetic or orthopedic appliance that tends to wear or tear clothing, or you use a prescribed skin medication for a service-connected skin condition that causes irreparable damage to your outer garments (38 CFR 3.810(a)(1)).
A device that wears or tears clothes
A prosthetic or orthopedic appliance you use for a service-connected condition, including a wheelchair. VA health care certifies it, or a VA exam shows it when the device is for loss or loss of use of a hand or foot that VA already pays SMC for.
A skin medication that ruins clothes
Medication a physician prescribed for a skin condition that is service connected, which causes irreparable damage to your outer garments, such as shirts and pants.
What counts as a qualifying device or medication
The rule doesn't list qualifying devices or creams by name. It asks whether this device or medication, used for this service-connected condition, damages clothing. That is the answer to "which knee braces qualify" or "which creams qualify": any that meet the test. When you apply, name each device or medication, the condition it's for, and the clothing it damages and how: rubbing holes in pants at the knee, tearing shirt fabric on a rigid brace, staining that won't wash out.
A skin medication has to cause damage that can't be repaired. A medication that leaves stains you can wash out isn't enough under the rule.
How much is the VA clothing allowance in 2026?
$1,053.19 for each allowance, effective December 1, 2025 (VA.gov (opens in a new tab)). You can receive more than one.
- One allowance for one qualifying device or medication (38 CFR 3.810(a)(1)).
- One for each device or medication that damages a different type of clothing, for example a leg brace that wears out pants and a back brace that wears out shirts (38 CFR 3.810(a)(2)).
- Two allowances for one type of clothing when two devices or medications together wear out that same type of clothing faster than one would (38 CFR 3.810(a)(3)).
- Incarceration: if you spend more than 60 days in a jail or prison that provides your clothing, VA reduces that year's allowance for each day after the first 60 (38 CFR 3.810(d)).
The August 1 deadline, and when VA pays the clothing allowance
August 1 is the date each year's allowance comes due. VA asks you to apply, and qualify, by August 1 to be paid for that year, and it pays between September 1 and October 31 (VA.gov (opens in a new tab)).
- Missed August 1? The regulation gives you until July 31 of the next year to apply for an allowance that came due on August 1, if you qualified by that date (38 CFR 3.810(c)(1)).
- Service connected after August 1? If VA decides service connection for the qualifying condition after an August 1 date you'd otherwise qualify for, you have one year from the date VA notifies you of that decision to apply (38 CFR 3.810(c)(2)).
- Do you have to apply every year? VA says that if you received a clothing allowance payment in 2022 or 2023, you don't need to reapply each year to keep getting it. You do need to apply to add another allowance, for a new device or medication. VA can stop or reduce payments if you no longer qualify.
How to apply: VA Form 10-8678
Apply online through VA.gov, or fill out VA Form 10-8678 (opens in a new tab), Application for Annual Clothing Allowance (June 2026 edition), and send it by mail, fax or through your VA medical center's prosthetics office.
Confirm the condition is service connected
Check your code sheet for the condition the device or medication treats. If it isn't service connected yet, file that claim first.
List every device and medication
For each one, write the service-connected condition it's for, the type of clothing it damages and how. Each item that damages a different type of clothing can be its own allowance.
Describe the damage in your own words
Be specific: where the brace rubs, how often you replace pants or shirts, what the medication does to fabric. Photos of the damaged clothing help. In the Board data below, the veteran's own account was what the Board relied on most in its grants.
Send it
Online on VA.gov (opens in a new tab); by mail to Department of Veterans Affairs, Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444; or to the prosthetic representative at your local VA medical center.
Original research
How often the Board grants the clothing allowance: what 1,841 rulings show
I counted the Board of Veterans' Appeals rulings on the clothing allowance in Claim Raven's library, 2021 to 2026. The Board granted 39.0% of 1,841 decided rulings, denied 34.6% and sent 26.4% back. When it made a final call, it granted 53.0%. Across every issue in the same years, 24.7% of rulings were grants.
The clearest pattern in these decisions: when the Board relied most on the veteran's own description of how the device or medication damaged clothing, it granted 96.0% (652 rulings). When a rule of law decided it, such as whether the device was for a service-connected condition, it granted 8.5%.
What the Board relied on most, and how often it granted
Rulings on the clothing allowance the Board granted or denied, 2021 to 2026, by the evidence it relied on most. The share is granted. Across all of them, 53.0% were granted (1,355 rulings).
Remands are left out, because the Board weighs the evidence only when it grants or denies. Associations, not causes. Source: Claim Raven analysis of Board decisions.
The clothing allowance at the Board, by year
Share of decided rulings granted, sent back and denied each year. Years with fewer than 100 rulings are left out.
- 42.5% granted, 21.3% sent back, 36.2% denied
- 44.1% granted, 24.9% sent back, 31.0% denied
- 40.1% granted, 27.2% sent back, 32.8% denied
- 37.0% granted, 29.3% sent back, 33.8% denied
- 37.5% granted, 20.6% sent back, 41.9% denied
Source: Claim Raven analysis of Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions. Dismissed and withdrawn appeals are left out.
Clothing allowance: grant rate by Board docket
Appeals under the current system (AMA), 2021 to 2026. Granted out of every decided ruling, remands included.
Source: Claim Raven analysis of Board decisions. What went together, not proof that a docket caused a result: veterans with new evidence tend to pick the evidence docket.
Why VA denies the clothing allowance, and what to do
A denial means VA found one of the rule's requirements not shown: the device or medication isn't for a service-connected condition, it doesn't damage clothing in the way the rule requires, or the application missed the date for that year.
| If VA said | Send this |
|---|---|
| The device or medication isn't for a service-connected condition | A prescription or treatment note tying the device or medication to the service-connected condition on your code sheet. If the condition isn't service connected, file that claim, including a secondary claim if one service-connected condition caused another. |
| It doesn't damage clothing | Your own statement describing the damage, photos of damaged clothing, and statements from family who see it. For a skin medication, show that the damage can't be repaired. |
| Only one allowance when you asked for more | Show that each device or medication damages a different type of clothing, or that two items together wear out the same type faster. |
| Too late for that year | Check the dates in 38 CFR 3.810(c): the window runs to July 31 after the August 1 due date, and to one year after a later service connection decision. |
When the Board sent a clothing allowance appeal back, it was usually for records: 77.2% of those remands asked VA to get records it didn't have yet.
Your decision letter lists your review options and deadlines. Clothing allowance appeals reach the Board on all three dockets, as the chart above shows. Compare your options with the Appeals Advisor.
Questions veterans ask about the clothing allowance
How much is the VA clothing allowance in 2026?
$1,053.19 for each allowance, effective December 1, 2025. You can receive more than one if separate devices or medications damage different types of clothing.
Who qualifies for the VA clothing allowance?
A veteran who, because of a service-connected condition, uses a prosthetic or orthopedic device (including a wheelchair) that tends to wear or tear clothing, or a prescribed skin medication for a service-connected skin condition that causes irreparable damage to outer garments.
What form do I use for the VA clothing allowance?
VA Form 10-8678, Application for Annual Clothing Allowance. You can also apply online through VA.gov or through the prosthetics office at your VA medical center.
When is the VA clothing allowance paid?
VA pays between September 1 and October 31 for applicants who qualify by August 1 of that year.
Do I have to apply for the clothing allowance every year?
Not if you received a clothing allowance payment in 2022 or 2023, according to VA. You do need to apply to add another allowance for a new device or medication.
Do knee braces qualify for the VA clothing allowance?
A knee brace qualifies when you use it for a service-connected condition and it tends to wear or tear your clothing. VA decides each device by that test, so describe exactly how your brace damages your pants.
What if I missed the August 1 deadline?
The regulation lets you apply until July 31 of the next year for an allowance that came due on August 1, if you qualified by then. If VA granted service connection after August 1, you have one year from that decision's notice.
How often does the Board grant the clothing allowance?
In Claim Raven's library, the Board granted 39.0% of 1,841 decided clothing allowance rulings from 2021 to 2026. When it relied most on the veteran's own description of the damage, it granted 96.0%.
Sources and method
Board data. Claim Raven reads every Board of Veterans' Appeals decision in its library ruling by ruling: 1,378,030 rulings in 511,036 decisions from 2021 to 2026, each tagged with the issue it decided, the outcome in the decision's order and what the Board relied on. This page counts the 2,057 rulings on the clothing allowance. Grant rates are granted out of granted, denied and sent back (remanded); dismissed and withdrawn appeals are left out because the Board never decided them. "What the Board relied on" is read only on rulings the Board granted or denied, so it compares with that group's own grant rate. Groups under 100 rulings aren't shown. The library holds only part of 2021's decisions. These figures show what went together in decided appeals, not what caused a result, and they are appeals, not VA's first decisions. The full method is on the VA disability statistics page.
Rules (checked against the eCFR text on 2026-10-06):
- 38 U.S.C. 1162; 38 CFR 3.810
- VA.gov: VA clothing allowance (opens in a new tab) and special benefit allowance rates (opens in a new tab)
- VA Form 10-8678 (June 2026) (opens in a new tab)
Cite this page
Claim Raven. VA clothing allowance: eligibility and Board outcomes. Board data 2021 to 2026. https://claimraven.com/clothing-allowance
Claim Raven explains VA rules in plain English so you can work your own claim. It is not legal advice, and Claim Raven is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Board outcomes describe appeals that reached the Board; they don't predict any one claim.