2900-0747, Supporting Statement (VAF 21-526EZ) 11-19-25

Supporting Statement - Part A

Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits

– OMB Control #2900-0747

Summary of Changes from Previously Approved Collection

• The respondent burden for VA Form 21-526EZ has increased due to:

• the number of receivables averaged over the past year, and

• the continuing improvement of VA’s electronic claims processing systems.

Note: Within the burden estimate, VA has separated out the paper and electronic burdens for tracking/informational purposes as we move to continue improving our electronic claims process.

• No comments received during the 60-Day comment period

1. Need for the Information Collection

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), through its Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), administers an integrated program of benefits and services, established by law, for Veterans, service personnel, and their dependents and/or beneficiaries. Information is requested by VA Form 21-526EZ, Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits, under the authorities of 38 U.S.C. 5101, Claims and Forms, and Public Law 110-389 Section 221, Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2008. This information collection is used to collect the information needed to process a claim for disability compensation and related compensation benefits. Though this form was initially created to be used to submit fully developed claims, it has evolved into a standard claim form to be used for any benefit associated with disability compensation; to include new or initial claims and claims for increase.

2. Use of the Information

The respondent population for VA Form 21-526EZ is composed of individuals gathering the necessary information for disability compensation claims, both in paper form and electronically.

3. Use of Information Technology

VA Form 21-526EZ, is available on the One-VA web site in a fillable electronic format. VBA is currently hosting this form on a secure server. Validation edits are performed to assure data integrity. There currently is a utility process in place that will allow the data submitted on the form to be incorporated with an existing centralized legacy database. Also, there are several electronic portals available that expedite processing, including VA.gov, Stakeholder Enterprise Portal, Digits-to-Digits, and Enterprise Veterans Self Service. As each year completes, the number of claims received electronically increases. This increase reduces the estimated time to complete the form.

4. Non-Duplication

The information obtained through this collection is unique and is not already available for use or adaptation from another cleared source.

Burden on Small Businesses

This information collection does not impose a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses or entities.

5. Less Frequent Collection

VA Form 21-526EZ is used to collect the information needed to process a claim for disability compensation and/or related compensation benefits. The form has evolved over time into a standard claim form to be used for any benefit associated with disability compensation; to include new or initial claims and claims for increase. Without this information, determination of entitlement would not be possible.

6. Paperwork Reduction Act Guidelines

This collection of information does not require collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines delineated in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).

7. Consultation and Public Comments

Part A: PUBLIC NOTICE

A 60-Day Federal Register Notice (FRN) for the collection published on Wednesday, August 20, 2025. The 60-Day FRN citation is 90 FRN 40700.

No comments were received during the 60-Day Comment Period.

A 30-Day Federal Register Notice for the collection published on Wednesday, November 19, 2025. The 30-Day FRN citation is 90 FRN 52165.

Part B: CONSULTATION

No additional consultation apart from soliciting public comments through the Federal Register was conducted for this submission.

8. Gifts or Payment

No payments or gifts are being offered to respondents as an incentive to participate in the collection.

9. Confidentiality

The records are maintained in the appropriate Privacy Act System of Records identified as “Compensation, Pension, Education, and Veteran Readiness and Employment Records-VA (58VA21/22/28),” published at 74 FR 29275 on June 19, 2009, and last amended at 87 FR 8740 (February 16, 2022).

10. Sensitive Questions

No questions considered sensitive are being asked in this collection.

11. Respondent Burden and its Labor Costs

1. The total number of Respondents is estimated at 2,508,969 per year.

Estimated paper respondents: 1,474,649.

Estimated electronic respondents: 1,034,320.

Note: VA estimates that 70 percent of claims received are through the online electronic portals.

2. Frequency of Response is one time.

3. Annual burden hours are 836,323 hours.

4. The total estimated average time to complete this data collection is 25 minutes for the paper form and 15 minutes for the electronic version. As such, the average burden estimate is 20 minutes.

5. VA cannot make further assumptions about the population of respondents because of the variability of factors such as the educational background and wage potential of respondents. Therefore, VBA uses general wage data to estimate the respondents’ costs associated with completing the information collection.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) gathers information on full-time wage and salary workers. According to the latest available BLS data, the mean hourly wage is $32.66 based on the BLS wage code – “00-0000 All Occupations.” This information was taken from the following website: https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/industry/000000.

Legally, respondents may not pay a person or business for assistance in completing the information collection. Therefore, there are no expected overhead costs for completing the information collection. VBA estimates the total cost to all respondents to be $27,314,309 (836,323 burden hours x $32.66 per hour).

12. Respondent Costs Other Than Burden Hour Costs

There are no annualized costs to respondents other than the labor burden costs addressed in Section 12 of this document to complete this collection.

13. Costs to the Federal Government

Grade	Step	Burden Time	Fraction of Hour	Hourly Rate	Cost Per Response	Total Responses	Total
7	3	15	0.25	$ 21.81	5.453	2,508,969	$ 13,680,153.47
Overhead at 100% Salary							$ 13,680,153.47
9	3	10	0.17	$ 26.68	4.447	2,508,969	$ 11,156,548.82
Overhead at 100% Salary							$ 11,156,548.82
11	3	5	0.08	$ 32.28	2.690	2,508,969	$ 6,749,126.61
Overhead at 100% Salary							$ 6,749,126.61
Processing / Analyzing Costs							$ 63,171,657.81
Printing and Production Cost							$ 701,907.31
Total Cost to Government							$ 63,873,565.11

Overhead costs are 100% of salary and are the same as the wage listed above and the amounts are included in the total. 

Printing and production costs approximates the cost of printing this information collection per year. (Processing/Analyzing Cost total divided by $90).

Note: The hourly wage information above is based on the hourly 2025 General Schedule (Base) Pay (SALARY TABLE 2025-GS). This rate does not include any locality adjustment as applicable.

The processing time estimates above are based on the actual amount of time employees of each grade level spend to process to completion a claim received on this form. The within-grade step (3) of each employee represents the average experience of employees within each grade.

14. Reason for Change in Burden

The respondent burden has increased due to:

• the number of receivables averaged over the past year, and

• the continuing improvement of VA’s electronic claims processing systems.

15. Publication of Results

The results of this information collection will not be published.

16. Non-Display of OMB Expiration Date

We are not seeking approval to omit the display of the expiration date of the OMB approval on the collection instrument.

17. Exceptions to “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submissions”

We are not requesting any exemptions to the provisions stated in 5 CFR 1320.9.