Citation Nr: 21006817 Decision Date: 02/05/21 Archive Date: 02/05/21 DOCKET NO. 10-13 224 DATE: February 5, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a total disability rating based upon individual unemployability (TDIU) prior to December 27, 2012, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from March 1968 to September 1969. This matter was previously before the Board in December 2018 when it was REMANDED for additional development in accordance with a June 2018 Joint Motion for Remand granted by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. During the pendency of the appeal, a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) granted entitlement to TDIU from December 27, 2012. The Veteran contends that an earlier effective date, prior to December 27, 2012, for the award of TDIU, is warranted. See January 2021 Correspondence from the Veteran’s attorney. The Board regrets further delay but finds that additional development is necessary before a decision may be rendered regarding the issue on appeal. The Veteran is currently in receipt of the earliest effective date possible on a schedular basis, i.e., December 27, 2012, for the award of TDIU. Prior to that date, the Veteran did not have a single disability rated as 60 percent or higher and did not have a combined rating of at least 70 percent. See April 2020 rating decision. Therefore, the issue of entitlement to an earlier effective date prior to December 27, 2012, for TDIU on an extraschedular basis, should be submitted to the Director, Compensation Service. Bowling v. Principi, 15 Vet. App. 1, 10 (2001). In this regard, the record indicates that the Veteran has been unemployed since 2004. See April 2014 Application for Increased Compensation based on Individual Unemployability. The record also suggests that such unemployability may have been due to functional impairments from the Veteran’s service-connected low back degenerative joint disease/arthritis with degenerative disc disease, status post discectomy and nerve decompression surgical treatment (claimed as low back condition). See March 2005 Social Security Disability Determination and Transmittal that noted discogenic and degenerative disorders of the back as the primary diagnosis; see also September 2008 Correspondence confirming his former employer’s approval of his disability retirement application. Under these circumstances, given the above-referenced evidence suggesting the Veteran’s inability to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation due to their service-connected low back disability prior to December 27, 2012, which could potentially serve as the basis for an earlier effective date, the claim should be submitted to the Director, Compensation Service for extraschedular consideration of a TDIU under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(b). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Refer this case to the Director, Compensation Service, for consideration of assignment of an extraschedular TDIU under the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(b) for the appellate period prior to December 27, 2012. All documentation arising from this request must be added to the claims file. A. C. MACKENZIE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board B. Banks, Associate Counsel The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.