The Yearly Income Report Is a Filing: Start to Finish for Keeping the Pension Open

VA asks the veteran to confirm income and medical expenses on a regular schedule. A missed or incomplete report can interrupt payment, so treat it as a filing with its own steps rather than a form to glance at once a year. The steps below run from the letter to the file copy.

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Step 1: Read the request letter

Find the response deadline printed on the letter and the name of the form it asks for. Note whether the letter asks for figures for a past period, the current period, or both. Put the deadline on the family calendar with two reminders before it, and write the mailing or upload method next to it.

Step 2: Collect each income statement

Gather a statement for every counted source, including Social Security, retirement or pension payments, bank interest, dividends, and rental income. Use the amounts printed on the statements, not estimates from memory. Where a payment changed during the period, keep both statements so the report shows the change.

Step 3: Collect medical expense proof

Pull the receipts and invoices for each medical cost, including in-home aide invoices, co-pays, premiums, and equipment you paid for. A cost without proof of payment is hard to show later, so match each receipt to a payment record before you fill in the form.¹

Step 4: Compare to the last period

Set last period's figures beside this one. Mark anything that moved: a new source of income, a stopped job, a changed interest amount, a new care bill, or a bill someone else paid. Each change is a question to answer on the form, not a detail to round away.

Step 5: Fill in exactly what the form asks

Answer the questions asked and nothing more. If a line is unclear, ask the accredited helper before you guess. Sign where the form requires a signature, and check the form's signer rules before it leaves the house so the signature is not the reason it gets sent back.

Step 6: Send it and keep the proof

Send by the method in the letter. Keep a copy of every page, the mailing receipt or upload confirmation, and the envelope if you mailed it. Store these with the award letter in one folder.

Step 7: Read the response

When VA answers, read the new award line by line against what you sent. Confirm the income figures and any medical deduction match. If a line is wrong, write down the line and what it should say, because that record is what you will use to ask for a correction.

Who helps with the report

Free help from accredited representatives is listed on the Local Help page. Ask any helper to show you the form they will fill in and to confirm who holds authority to act for the veteran.² If this is the first time the file has been opened, start with the Start Here order.

Footnotes

¹ VA.gov, pension income and expense reporting instructions.
² VA.gov, accredited representatives and authorization to act for a veteran.