Military Checklist

The VA waiver

CRDP or CRSC — which pays you more

You cannot receive CRDP and CRSC at the same time. In the first year both are available, DFAS initially selects the larger gross entitlement. Later, your current election continues unless you change it during Open Season. An after-tax comparison is a third, personal question — not the DFAS default and not an automatic election.

Who this is built for

This is a beta. Every figure here is an illustration built from what you have entered, not a statement of what you are owed — only DFAS, the VA and your own finance office can tell you that.

Not built for you — Active duty separating before 20 years
Both programmes restore waived RETIRED pay. Below twenty years there is no retired pay to waive, so neither applies however high your rating is.
Not built for you — Already separated
Neither programme applies without retired pay. A separation with severance is a different question, and the recoupment rules behind it are not modelled here.
Not built for you — Spouse, former spouse or survivor
Neither programme survives the retiree — both end at death. What a survivor may receive instead is SBP and, where the death was service-connected, DIC, neither of which is modelled here.
Partly — read this — Guard or Reserve
Applies once retired pay starts, not before.
Partly — read this — Medical or disability retirement (Chapter 61)
Chapter 61 retirees face a longevity cap on CRDP that this comparison does not model. Treat the result as indicative only.
Built for you — Active duty heading for a 20-year retirement
Built for you — Already retired

Every calculator here carries this list. See all of them side by side.

CRSC is not taxable. Restored retired pay under CRDP is.

A smaller CRSC amount can sometimes leave more after tax than a larger taxable CRDP restoration. The calculator labels that as an estimate only. Former-spouse division, garnishment, allotments, SBP collection, disability-retired-pay facts, and an actual tax return can change the practical choice.

Compare on your own figures

Before the VA waiver.

The site cannot decide combat relationship.

Use the service/DFAS determination, not points divided by 360.

Reserve eligibility age can delay concurrent retired pay.

Read the Retiree Account Statement or election record.

Initial joint-eligibility year?

Enter both gross retired pay and VA compensation to compare.

What the two programmes actually are

CRDP is concurrent military retired pay, generally automatic when DFAS has the needed records. It generally requires a VA rating of at least 50% and entitlement to retired pay. Chapter 61 retirees generally need 20 qualifying years, are limited to hypothetical longevity retired pay, and a Reserve Chapter 61 member may have to wait until the non-regular retired-pay eligibility age. Because CRDP is retired pay, it is generally taxable.

CRSC is a separate, tax-free payment for the portion of a disability that is combat-related. There is no 50% floor, but it must be applied for, the combat relationship must be documented, and only the combat-related share counts. It is not retired pay, which is why it is not taxed — and why it cannot exceed the amount of retired pay that was waived.

Why this page does not compute your CRSC

The service decides combat relationship and the award. Use the approved amount or the current DFAS payment. The page will not infer a combat-related percentage from diagnoses or service history, and it will not convert a comparison into an election.

Before you act on this

  • The current election persists. If you qualify for both, DFAS generally offers an annual Open Season. Not returning the later annual form keeps the same program; it does not make DFAS rerun this page's after-tax preference.
  • CRSC must be applied for. CRDP arrives on its own; CRSC does not. A retiree who never applies is compared against nothing.
  • Other payment consequences differ.CRDP and CRSC can affect former-spouse payments, allotments, garnishments and how SBP premiums are collected. Compare the DFAS election letter and Retiree Account Statement, not net tax alone.
  • One marginal rate is a simplification.A real return moves through brackets. Treat the numbers here as a close estimate and the direction of the answer as the durable part.

Educational indicators and an optional after-tax estimate only. They are not an eligibility, election, tax, former-spouse, or payment determination. The service and DFAS records control.