Annual Clothing Allowance

Eligibility

You qualify if at least one of the following is true, and the damage is tied to a service-connected condition (or a condition compensated under 38 USC 1151 as if service-connected):

• Path 1, prosthetic or orthopedic appliance: the VA has prescribed and you use a prosthesis (artificial limb), brace (back, knee, ankle, neck), wheelchair, walker with friction points, custom orthotic, or similar device that "tends to wear or tear" your clothing.
• Path 2, prescribed skin medication: the VA has prescribed a topical medication (ointment, cream, gel) for a service-connected skin condition that causes irreparable damage to outer garments, typically permanent staining or chemical degradation of the fabric.

The damage must be linked to a service-connected condition. A non-service-connected skin condition or non-service-connected use of a brace does not qualify.

What clothing is covered

The clothing allowance is intended to compensate for damage to outer garments only. It does not cover all clothing items.

If a prosthesis or brace specifically damages footwear (for example, an ankle-foot orthosis that wears through socks), that damage is typically addressed through the VA's prosthetics service rather than the clothing allowance. The exact covered and not-covered lists are administrative guidance, so confirm borderline items like coats or jackets with your PSAS office.

Multiple allowances in the same year

You can receive more than one clothing allowance per year. There is no fixed "four allowance" cap in the regulation, contrary to some online guides. What 38 CFR 3.810(a)(2) and (a)(3) actually provide is:

• One allowance per qualifying appliance or medication when each affects a distinct type of garment. For example, a prosthetic leg wears your pants and a prescribed skin cream ruins your shirts: that is two allowances.
• Two allowances for a single garment type when two different appliances or medications act on the same kind of garment and together damage it at an increased rate compared with one alone.

The VA will not combine or convert these for you. Each qualifying source needs to be claimed on the application. In practice most veterans qualify for one or two.

How to apply

1. Get the form. VA Form 10-8678 (Application for Annual Clothing Allowance). Download from VA.gov.
2. Identify the service-connected condition and the device or medication. Use the diagnostic code and brief description (for example, "DC 7800 - facial burns, prescribed Silvadene 1% topical").
3. Submit by August 1. Send it through My HealtheVet secure messaging, by mail or fax to the Claims Intake Center, or in person at your local PSAS office. Do not send it by ordinary email. Claims Intake Center: Department of Veterans Affairs, Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444. Fax: 844-531-7818 (toll-free).
4. PSAS reviews it. The Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) at your local VA Medical Center adjudicates the claim and does review the medical evidence, commonly within a few business days for in-person or mailed applications. This does not re-open your rating.
5. Payment. Approved allowances are issued annually as a lump sum, generally between September 1 and October 31.

How to strengthen your claim

The person deciding your claim is a PSAS staffer, not your treating doctor. They cannot picture what your brace or skin cream does to fabric. Your job is to make the damage obvious in the record.

Skin-medication claims

These fail most often because "irreparable damage" is hard for a non-treating reviewer to visualize. The single most effective thing you can do is make the damage visible:

• Keep the damaged garments. Lay several out and photograph them, showing the same staining or fabric breakdown in the same spots across multiple shirts or pants. Consistency across several items shows it is not a one-time accident.
• State plainly that it does not wash out. Removable stains are excluded by rule, so address this head-on in your statement.
• Get it into the medical record. Ask your VA or private clinician to write that the prescribed medication causes irreparable damage to your outer garments. That single sentence is often what satisfies the requirement.

Device claims (Path 1)

Photos are usually unnecessary if a clinician or prosthetist documents that the device tends to wear or tear your clothing. If you are denied, you can request a Higher-Level Review, point to the medical evidence, and cite the M21-1 evidence threshold that should have resulted in a grant.

Renewal, changes, and special situations

• Automatic renewal. As of a December 2022 law change (PL 117-328, section 201), the VA makes recurring annual payments without a new application for veterans whose prescribed devices and medications have not changed.
• Notify VA of changes. If a prosthesis is no longer used, a topical medication is discontinued, or a new device is prescribed, file an updated VA Form 10-8678 to either add a new allowance or terminate one that no longer applies.
• Incarcerated veterans. Under 38 USC 5313A, if you are incarcerated more than 60 days for a felony and the institution furnishes clothing, the allowance is reduced by 1/365th for each day after the first 60.
• Surviving spouses and dependents. The clothing allowance is veteran-specific and is not paid to surviving spouses or dependents.

Quick reference

Sources and authority

• 38 U.S. Code § 1162 - Clothing allowance
• 38 CFR § 3.810 - Annual clothing allowance
• VA Form 10-8678 - Application for Annual Clothing Allowance
• VHA Handbook 1173.15 - Clothing Allowance Benefit (benefit year, PSAS processing, anniversary-date mechanics)
• VA M21-1, Part IX, Subpart i, Chapter 7 - ACAP eligibility requirements and evidence standards
• VA.gov - Annual clothing allowance overview and current rates

Frequently asked questions

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