VA Compensation Calculator — Update 1.26.5
Version 1.26.5 of the VA Compensation Calculator is now available on the App Store. This release adds two of the most-requested features — a Backpay Calculator and Special Monthly Compensation support — alongside historical rates back to 2018, a corrected 2026 rate table, and a fix for the 0% disability regression.
What’s New
Backpay Calculator
You can now estimate retroactive compensation across a timeline of rating changes. Build out the timeline of when your ratings changed, and the app calculates the backpay you would be owed for each segment, with full SMC support included in the math.
Special Monthly Compensation (SMC)
The calculator now supports the most common SMC categories — SMC-K, S, L, R1, and R2 — so you can model compensation for cases that go beyond the standard combined-rating math.
Historical Rates Back to 2018
The year picker now goes all the way back to 2018, so you can run calculations against any year’s COLA-adjusted rate table. This pairs naturally with the Backpay Calculator when reconstructing compensation for past periods.
2026 Rate Correction
The 2026 compensation rates have been corrected to match the latest values published on VA.gov. If you ran 2026 estimates in an earlier build, re-running them in 1.26.5 will give you the updated numbers.
0% Disability Regression Fixed
The 1.26.4 hotfix unintentionally re-broke the ability to add 0% rated disabilities. That regression is fixed in this release — 0% conditions can again be added in any of the Rated, Pending, and Denied statuses.
Refinements
A few smaller improvements round out the release:
- The year picker on the main screen now hides automatically outside the December–February COLA window. A Settings toggle lets you keep it visible year-round if you prefer.
- The Help screen has been reorganized into three sections: What’s New, How to Use, and Help. Links to the r/VeteransBenefits community and the Knowledge Base are included for when you want to dig deeper.
- Some small UI changes and fixes throughout the app.
As always, all data remains stored locally on your device and is never transmitted to external servers. The Backpay Calculator, SMC inputs, and historical rate selections all run entirely on-device.
For questions or feedback, use the contact page.