§ 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. (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3221, 3222)
( 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 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. (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3222)
( 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. (Authority: Pub. L. 99-576, sec. 309(c))
( 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.
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3222(d)
[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]