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Request current rates and loan options based on this VA funding-fee breakdown. Add a mobile number if you prefer a text.
Calculator results are estimates for planning, not a loan approval, commitment, rate lock, or Loan Estimate.
What the VA funding fee calculator calculates
The VA funding fee is a one-time fee charged on most VA-backed loans, paid to the Department of Veterans Affairs to help sustain the loan guaranty program. This calculator estimates that fee based on your loan type (purchase, cash-out refinance, or IRRRL streamline refinance), your down payment, and whether this is your first or a subsequent use of your VA benefit.
The fee is expressed as a percentage of the loan amount and varies by scenario: purchase loans with no down payment carry a higher percentage than those with 5% or 10% down, and a subsequent use of the VA benefit typically carries a higher fee than a first use for purchases with less than 5% down.
Veterans receiving VA disability compensation, and some surviving spouses, are exempt from the funding fee entirely — the calculator includes this as an option to zero out the fee.
How to use it, step by step
- 1Select your loan type: purchase, cash-out refinance, or IRRRL streamline refinance — each has a different fee structure.
- 2Enter your loan amount and, for a purchase, your down payment percentage, since the fee tier changes at 5% and 10% down.
- 3Select whether this is your first use of VA loan eligibility or a subsequent use.
- 4Select funding-fee exempt status if you receive VA disability compensation or otherwise qualify for an exemption.
- 5Review the estimated funding-fee rate, the dollar amount, and the estimated total financed amount with the fee added.
A worked example
Example inputs
- Loan type
- Purchase
- Down payment
- 0%
- VA benefit use
- First-time use
- Loan amount
- $350,000
Result
A first-time-use purchase loan with no down payment carries the funding-fee tier for that scenario. At 2.15% of a $350,000 loan, the fee comes to roughly $7,700.
Most borrowers finance the funding fee into the loan rather than paying it in cash, bringing the total financed amount to roughly $357,700 in this example. A 5% or 10% down payment would move the fee into a lower tier.
How to read the result
The funding fee tier depends on three things together — loan type, down payment amount, and first vs. subsequent use — so check that all three match your actual scenario before trusting the estimate.
Most VA borrowers finance the funding fee into the loan amount rather than paying cash, which slightly increases the loan balance and monthly payment beyond the base amount.
If you're exempt due to VA disability compensation, confirm your exemption status with your lender and the VA directly — the calculator's exemption option is an estimate, not a determination of your actual eligibility.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting to select 'subsequent use' when applicable — a second or later use of VA eligibility on a purchase with under 5% down carries a meaningfully higher funding-fee rate than a first use.
- Assuming the funding fee is waived automatically for veterans — the exemption applies specifically to those receiving VA disability compensation and some surviving spouses, not to all veterans.
- Not accounting for the funding fee when comparing total loan costs against a conventional or FHA loan, since it's a VA-specific cost those programs don't have.
- Overlooking that an IRRRL streamline refinance has its own, generally lower, funding-fee rate compared to a purchase or cash-out refinance.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Veterans receiving VA disability compensation, and certain surviving spouses of veterans who died in service or from a service-connected disability, are generally exempt from the funding fee. Confirm your specific eligibility directly with the VA or your lender.
Yes, and most VA borrowers do exactly that — the funding fee is typically added to the loan amount rather than paid in cash at closing, which slightly increases the total loan balance and monthly payment.
For purchase loans with less than 5% down, a subsequent use of VA eligibility generally carries a higher funding-fee percentage than a first use. At 5% or more down, first-use and subsequent-use rates are typically closer together.
Yes, but IRRRL (Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan) funding fees are generally lower than purchase or cash-out refinance fees, reflecting the more limited scope and lower risk of a rate-and-term refinance on an existing VA loan.
Yes — putting down 5% or more, and especially 10% or more, moves a purchase loan into a lower funding-fee tier compared to a 0%-down VA loan, even though VA loans don't require a down payment at all for eligible borrowers.