Hello vets , I would like to know the rules of compensation of being rated at 100% IU or PT when it comes to self employment , self employment programs through VOCREHAB? I am not 100% at this time and I am gainfully employed , but the way its going for me and my SC medical problems that I have it appers that I want be able to do my current job in the future due to my SC medical problems.I am in the process of starting my own buisness already and I will be in buisness in about a month , I dont want to wait until the last minute , I have bills and a soon to be new wife to worry about , I went through VOCREHAB and they asked me what I wanted to do , I told them I want the self employed program , they told me I could not do it because I was already gainfully employed and come back when my rating goes up which is currently 40%. my concern is that when it does go up and I can no longer work for someone else and if I receive a rating of 100% IU can I still be self employed? Or does this mean I can not work at all even if I have my own buisness? It seems that they all put you in a position of rock and a hard place.
While not helping you one smidgen on your original question, here may be some help in another way. Having been self employed a number of times, one can be VERY creative in determing actual profit - and your own wages. For example you might have to hire your wife as a consultant or employee, and perhaps after paying her wages or fees, there is not enough left to pay yourself.
I am starting a S corporation and my wife will be the operations manger,thank you for the good advice.It will be a while before I can draw a salary due to the fact of what it cost to start a buisn, after paying for legal fees, equipment , employees fees and payroll , the owner is left with little in the begining , the VA says that it will help you but when you go and apply that than tell you that you have to be this and that before you can even get in the program , its said that I have to wait and suffer and wait until my SC medical problems get worse and get a higher rating before they will put me in a program. So I have decided to start my buisness up and wait for a higher rating and than go back to the vocrehab program and see what they say but , I still dont know how they decide who is elgible and not? Can someone please advise , they make it look so easy until you get in a office with a VOCREHAB cousnlor and the door closes , I came out of meeting very depressed and that is not how I should of felt its like they dont even care , just come back when you get a hiring rating and maybe we can help you is what I got.
I am not familiar with the Voc Rehab program. I went to college on my Voc Rehab. If you become 100% scheduler they do not care about outside income. If you are 100% IU, it is because you can not work.
You can make a little money as IU - about $800 a month. Somewhere else on this forum I have posted the amount. When I became 70% disabled I owned a business (with my wife and son) and they did not offer me IU because I went to the office. When my disability went to 100% scheduler they did not care.
Now there is another catch 22 - if your wife owns the business any veterans benefits that may be available will not be afforded including government contracting opportunities.
If you are rated 100% disabled you can not work!! If you do you will be a fraud and could go to jail or be forced to pay all recieved benefits back. If you can work, work. If you start a company under your wifes name and work for her. This is fraud! 100% means you are unable to work. Have honor and be honest.
You are wrong. 100% scheduler is different than 100% IU. The first is based on how a disease or diseases compares to a set of ratings. The VA acknowledges that different people with the same disease may be affected differently, but that they are still entitled to the same compensation. They are also compensating for reduction in life time earnings.
With IU, they are saying you are unable to work in gainful employment. "Marginal employment shall not be considered substantially gainful employment. For purposes of this section, marginal employment generally shall be deemed to exist when a veterans 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."
"IU exists as a concept to cover the situation in which a service-connected disability makes the veteran unemployable, even though an average person with a similar impairment could secure and retain substantial gainful employment. Since the rating schedule focuses on the average person, the concept of IU is necessary to take into acount circumstances such as education and past employment history that are peculiar to the claimant and to implement "the established policy of the Department of Veterans' Affairs that all veterans who are unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation by reason of service-connected disabilities shall be rated totally disabled." "
Dave - I was told by my D.A.V. Rep. I could not work at all. If I did I would loose my 100% P&T and could be in big trouble. Not that I could hold a job because of PTSD. My benefit is amount is $2610. a month with wife only. This isn't any more than normal amount for 100% married. I don't think I am below poverty level? I am asking you, can I work? have I been wrong all these years? I never was rated IU. I was 30% once and did work but after hospital stay was raised to 100% later P&T. I thought I was being honest and giving good advise to the person that ask the question.
This is an excellent example of why I always seem to be playing devils advocate in recommending great caution when choosing a VSO, and NEVER accept guidance without question. Guidance here is free, I too have seen the half baked idiots that pose as experts - and get people into more trouble than if they had no guidance at all. It is so self policing too, just think for example, if Dave were wrong, you would see a dozen posts quoting regulations correcting him, as well as where to find the hamnmers and nails to crucify him. (He ain't wrong, so you will not see that of course)
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Originally posted by hutchdtp: Dave - I was told by my D.A.V. Rep. I could not work at all. If I did I would loose my 100% P&T and could be in big trouble. Not that I could hold a job because of PTSD. My benefit is amount is $2610. a month with wife only. This isn't any more than normal amount for 100% married. I don't think I am below poverty level? I am asking you, can I work? have I been wrong all these years? I never was rated IU. I was 30% once and did work but after hospital stay was raised to 100% later P&T. I thought I was being honest and giving good advise to the person that ask the question.
Most people receiving IU must state their income annually. 100% P&T are not required to. This could be an issue if you ever file a new claim because they can re-evaluate all service connected disabilities.
So work all you want, but be cautious in making new claims
To be 100% PTSD the clinical description is you can not hold a job. If you can then you are not 100% PTSD. My disease says if you can not breathe to a certain standard (blow hard ) you are 100%, PTSD says if your disease causes certain physiological symptoms, some of which include ability to hold a job and manage finances, you are 100% disabled.
My next question is what does 100% PT and 100% IU stand for and what are the diffrences, I dont have the buisness in my soon to be wifes name at all and it want be where getting married in DEC. My buisness is a S Corparation which is a whole seperate entity from me or my soon to be wife so that is not even a issue , I want to be very clear that I would never try to find a loop hole to circumvent the system in order to receive my benefits which I feel are due to me anyway as my SC health problems gets worse. I was simply trying to find out what will happen to me from a self employment stand point if it comes to this, I could realistic run my company from a lap top computer and a office once I get it to that point. I am a entreprnuer so I am always looking ahead a forward thinker I have to be. So how can the VA apply the same set rules to people who are self employed due to the fact that each situation would by far diffrent depending on what they did for a living ?
I will put my accountants hat on. Although a S corp is a separate entity for legal purposes for income, tax, etc it is pass through to the owners. That means that 100% of the profit shows up on the owners 1040.
If you are 100% scheduler it does not matter. If you are less than 100% scheduler it does not matter. It only matters if you are IU. You can not make more than gainful employment as defined by the government for that year. If you can work, you are not unemployable. If you can not work you are. Simple rules. Easy for all. There are things that are not considered work for IU. Also, if you get 100% PTSD, by definition you can not work.
Thank you Dave. I know I can not hold a job because of my PTSD. I hope all understand and do not try to work if they feel they may loose their rating of 100%. Soc. Sec. tells people that draw SSD to work. If they seem to do good at there job they soon loose their SSD. Now this is what I have heard. I am just a old Vet. not a know it all. Good luck to all and thanks for the answers.
SSDI and VA IU have similar rules on gainful employment. If you make under $720 a month you can get SSDI. The number is slightly higher for IU - about $850 a month.
An aside, I found this: Q: Is there more than one definition for "disabled?" WC has determined I am NOT disabled but Social Security has approved my SSDI application. How can that be? A: Yes, there is often a different definition of Disabled among various programs and policies. The Veterans Administration has probably the most liberal definition of disability and Social Security the strictest. Various workers compensation programs and private disability insurance programs have their own definition.This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dave_M,
) you are 100%, PTSD says if your disease causes certain physiological symptoms, some of which include ability to hold a job and manage finances, you are 100% disabled.
