Citation Nr: 25007776
Decision Date: 06/11/25	Archive Date: 06/11/25

DOCKET NO. 17-05 339
DATE: June 11, 2025

ORDER

Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is dismissed as moot.

FINDING OF FACT

For the entire appeal period, the Veteran has been in receipt of a 100 percent combined rating as well as entitlement to special monthly compensation (SMC) at the housebound rate pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s).

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The claim for entitlement to a TDIU is moot and the issue is dismissed. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1155, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16, 4.19.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from June 1998 to June 2001. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision issued in May 2015 by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office, the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ). In September 2017 and September 2020, the Board remanded this matter. 

Entitlement to a TDIU. 

The Veteran raised entitlement to a TDIU as part and parcel of his appeal concerning an increased rating for migraine headaches. Rice v. Shinseki, 22 Vet. App. 447, 454-55 (2009). In November 2019, VA received the Veteran's VA Form 21-8940 Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability based on all of his service-connected disabilities. 

By way of procedural history, on April 14, 2015, VA received the Veteran's VA Form 21-526EZ Fully Developed Claim for, in pertinent part, mental health condition, headaches, and tinnitus. Such claim was adjudicated by the AOJ in the May 2015 rating decision which the Veteran subsequently appealed to the Board. In the September 2017 Board decision, the Board indicated that TDIU was raised by record and remanded such as inextricably intertwined with the other issues on appeal. In September 2020, the Board remanded the matter again. Accordingly, the date of the claim for the purposes of this appeal is April 14, 2015. 

The Veteran has been in receipt of a 100 percent rating for his bipolar disorder, from March 30, 2011; a 50 percent rating for migraine headaches, from October 30, 2012; and a 10 percent rating for tinnitus, from April 14, 2015. However, a 100 percent disability rating does not always render the issue of a TDIU moot. VA's duty to maximize a claimant's benefits includes consideration of whether his disabilities establish entitlement to SMC pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 1114(s). See Buie v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 242, 250 (2011). That statute provides for additional compensation if the Veteran is in receipt of a 100 percent rating and has additional disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent or higher. The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims has held that a 100 percent schedular rating does not render TDIU moot if the TDIU is predicated on one service-connected disability, and as such, would assist the Veteran in obtaining SMC pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s). See Bradley v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 280, 294 (2008); Buie, 24 Vet. App. at 250-51. Here, the Veteran is in receipt of SMC pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s) from April 14, 2015, forward. As such, there is no additional benefit that VA has not already maximized, to include entitlement to SMC.

Accordingly, the Board finds that since the Veteran is rated at 100 percent for his service-connected disabilities and is in receipt of SMC since April 14, 2015, the issue of entitlement to TDIU is moot, and the claim is dismissed.  

 

Nathaniel Doan

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	N. M. Younan

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.