VA Eligibility Verification Report (EVR): The Department of Veterans Affairs announced 20 DEC it is cutting red tape for Veterans by eliminating the need for them to complete an annual Eligibility Verification Report (EVR). VA will implement a new process for confirming eligibility for benefits, and staff that had been responsible for processing the old form will instead focus on eliminating the compensation claims backlog. Historically, beneficiaries have been required to complete an EVR each year to ensure their pension benefits continued. Under the new initiative, VA will work with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) to verify continued eligibility for pension benefits. “By working together, we have cut red tape for Veterans and will help ensure these brave men and women get the benefits they have earned and deserve,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. VA estimates it would have sent nearly 150,000 EVRs to beneficiaries in January 2013. Eliminating these annual reports reduces the burden on Veterans, their families, and survivors because they will not have to return these routine reports to VA each year in order to avoid suspension of benefits. It also allows VA to redirect more than 100 employees that usually process EVRs to work on eliminating the claims backlog.

Congress Passes Vet Employer Tax Credits:

Congress included tax credits for businesses who hire veterans in the bill passed to avoid the fiscal
cliff.
The Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors work opportunity tax credit provisions offer from $2,400 to $9,600 in credits to businesses who hire veterans.
Two of the tax credits are each worth $2,400, one for veterans whose families are receiving supplemental nutrition assistance, and the other for the short-term hiring of unemployed veterans. Also extended are a $4,800 tax credit for hiring a veteran discharged within the previous year who has a service-connected disability; a $5,600 tax credit for hiring a veteran who has been unemployed for an extended period; and a $9,600 tax credit for hiring a service-disabled veteran who has been unemployed for an extended period.