---
kind: "section"
citation: "38 C.F.R. § 21.5052"
title: "38"
number: "21.5052"
heading: "Contribution requirements."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/38/21.5052"
---

# §21.5052. Contribution requirements.

- (a) **Minimum period of participation.** Each individual who agrees to participate must do so for a minimum period of 12 consecutive months, unless the participant:
  - (1) Is allowed to disenroll for hardship reasons;
  - (2) Is permitted to suspend participation for hardship reasons;
  - (3) Is discharged or released from active duty;
  - (4) Otherwise ceases to be legally eligible to participate; or
  - (5) Elects to make a lump-sum contribution which, when taken together with his or her other contributions, equals the equivalent of at least 12 months' participation.
- (b) **Amount of monthly contribution.** The individual shall specify the amount of his or her contribution to the fund.
  - (1) The contribution shall be at least $25 per month but not more than $100 per month.
  - (2) The contribution shall be evenly divided by five. See [§ 21.5292](/cfr/38/21.5292.md) for contributions made during the 1-year pilot program.
- (c) **Amount of total contribution.** An individual may contribute for the number of months required to reach a total contribution of $2,700.
- (d) **Changing the monthly contribution.** An individual may increase or decrease the amount of the monthly contribution, but may not do so more than once a month.
- (e) **Prohibition against contributing.** An individual may not make contributions to the fund after the date of his or her discharge. The VA does not consider the return of an unnegotiated refund check to be a contribution. A person who returns a refund check remains continuously eligible for benefits.
- (f) **Lump-sum contribution.** After September 30, 1980 an individual may make a lump-sum contribution or contributions in place of or in addition to monthly contributions.
  - (1) **A lump-sum contribution—**
    - (i) Must be evenly divisible by five,
    - (ii) Must, when taken together with any monthly contributions the participant may have made or may agree to make, equal or exceed 12 months' participation, and
    - (iii) Must not exceed $2,700 when taken together with any monthly contributions the participant may have made or may agree to make.
  - (2) The Department of Veterans Affairs will consider the lump-sum contributions to have been made by monthly deductions from the participant's military pay at the rate of $100 per month unless the participant specifies a different rate which must be
    - (i) No lower than $25 per month,
    - (ii) No higher than $100 per month, and
    - (iii) **Evenly divisible by five.**
  - (3) If otherwise eligible to make contributions, a participant:
    - (i) **May make a lump-sum contribution to cover any period of his or her active duty.** This may entail a retroactive period, including one which—
      - (A) Begins after December 31, 1976, and before October 1, 1980, or
      - (B) Although made after October 27, 1986, includes all or part of the period beginning on July 1, 1985, and ending on October 27, 1986.
    - (ii) May make a lump-sum contribution which has the effect of increasing the amount of a monthly contribution the participant made previously, but the payment cannot have the effect of increasing the monthly contribution to an amount greater than $100;
    - (iii) May make a lump-sum payment to cover a period for which he or she previously obtained a refund;
    - (iv) May not make a lump-sum payment to cover a period during which the participant was not on active duty or will not be on active duty.
  - (4) A participant may make as many lump-sum contributions as he or she desires, but he or she may not make more than one lump-sum contribution per month.

## Notes

### Amendments

[45 FR 31, Jan. 2, 1980, as amended at 47 FR 51744, Nov. 17, 1982; 48 FR 50530, Nov. 2, 1983; 53 FR 617, Jan. 11, 1988; 53 FR 34496, Sept. 7, 1988]

### Authority

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a), chs. 32, 36, and as noted in specific sections.

### Source

Source: 45 FR 31, Jan. 2, 1980, unless otherwise noted.

### Amendments

[45 FR 31, Jan. 2, 1980, as amended at 47 FR 51744, Nov. 17, 1982; 48 FR 50530, Nov. 2, 1983; 53 FR 617, Jan. 11, 1988; 53 FR 34496, Sept. 7, 1988]