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HHS Chapter 4-20
Travel Manual
HHS Transmittal 2000.02 - December 15, 2000

Subject: Miscellaneous Expenses


4-20-00 Purpose

4-20-10 Reimbursable Miscellaneous Expenses





4-20-00 PURPOSE


This chapter provides supplemental guidance for HHS civilian employees on reimbursable miscellaneous expenses incurred during official travel.





4-20-10 REIMBURSABLE MISCELLANEOUS EXPENSES


HHS authorizing and approving officials may authorize or approve reimbursement of miscellaneous expenses, as listed in the Federal Travel Regulation Part 301-12 and these supplemental HHS policy guidelines. Each type of miscellaneous expense will be reported as a separate line item on the travel voucher, indicating the amount and dates when incurred. In general, receipts are required only when the individual expense is greater than $75. In addition, there are special requirements for the types of miscellaneous expenses listed below in this Section.


Federal Travel Regulation Guidelines:

• FTR Part 301-12 Miscellaneous Expenses
• FTR Amendment 75, General and Temporary Duty Travel Allowances, effective for official travel performed on or after January 1, 1999




Note: An Operating Division's travel policy on miscellaneous expense reimbursement may be different from the Departmental guidelines contained in this Manual. The Operating Division's travel policy is governing over its employees.



HOTEL TAXES

A. Hotel Taxes


• Continental U.S. (CONUS) - Effective for travel on or after January 1, 1999, GSA issued FTR Amendment 75 that removed hotel taxes from lodging rates previously included in the per diem rates for the continental U.S. Hotel taxes are now a miscellaneous expense item.
  
  
• Non-foreign Duty Areas (OCONUS) - Effective for travel on or after January 1, 2000, the Department of Defense removed hotel taxes from lodging rates for non-foreign duty areas outside of the continental U.S. Non-foreign areas include: Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and territories and possessions of the U.S. Hotel taxes are now a miscellaneous expense item.

• Foreign Duty Areas - As of the issuance date of this Travel Manual section, the Department of State continues to include hotel taxes in their per diem lodging rates for foreign duty areas. Hotel taxes may not be authorized or vouchered as a miscellaneous expense item.

  
  
  

TELEPHONE CALLS FOR PERSONAL REASONS WHILE IN TRAVEL STATUS



B. Telephone Calls For Personal Reasons While in Travel Status




Effective Date: Travel on or after January 1, 2001


It is HHS policy that commercial charges for telephone calls placed for personal reasons while in travel status are reimbursable as a miscellaneous travel expense to civilian employees, subject to the following restrictions:




• The employee must incur a minimum of two consecutive nights lodging on official travel either domestic or foreign.



• Government-provided long distance telephone systems and services (including government-issued calling cards) are not available, so that a commercial toll service must be used.



• Employees are expected to incur expenses in the same manner as a prudent person would. An average of one call per day is authorized for domestic travel. See Item 5. for foreign travel.



• Each Operating Division is responsible for setting a policy on limitations to reimbursement (domestic and foreign travel), in partnership with their local unions. The Department's guideline for travel within the Continental U.S. (CONUS) is: reimbursement should be limited to actual expenses not to exceed an amount equal to: $5 times the number of consecutive days on the trip.



• The Department's guideline for travel outside of the Continental U.S. (OCONUS) is:
  
  

a. The determination that telephone calls home from a foreign country will be allowed must be made prior to the beginning of travel. Once the determination is made, authorization for these calls must be made on the travel order.


b. Due to major costs differences in foreign phone rates, the authorizing official must also authorize the frequency and estimated cost of telephone calls on the travel order. Major deviations, over 20 per cent, from what is authorized on the travel order must be accompanied by a written justification describing the circumstances for the deviation. The authorizing official is responsible for reviewing such claims and making the final determination that the amounts claimed are reasonable.




• Receipts are only required for individual telephone call charges exceeding $75 or when emergency personal calls, specified in Item 7, are vouchered for reimbursement.



• Personal emergencies are defined as the death or serious illness or injury of a member of the employee's family or catastrophic occurrence or impending disaster such as fire, flood, or act of God which directly affects the employee's home at the official station or the family and occurs while the employee is at, or en route to or from, a temporary duty location. When personal emergencies occur, the approving official may approve a higher amount than the Operating Division's standard reimbursement policy limitation (such as $5 per day) when the following requirements are met (note: there is no minimum number of nights required):
• Government-provided long distance telephone systems and services are not available, so that a commercial toll service must be used.
• A justification for the higher personal telephone expense allowance must be documented on the approved travel voucher.
• Receipts are required for all charges, to the extent that the calls were placed through a method that provides a receipt.



In all cases, employees should make personal calls during lunch, break, or other off-duty periods, if at all possible. To the maximum extent practicable, employees should place calls on Government-provided long distance telephone systems and services instead of using commercial toll services (41 Code of Federal Regulations Subpart 101-35.201 Authorized Use of Long Distance Telephone Services) in accordance with their OPDIVs' policies.


Approving officials must be sensitive to the employee's needs yet, at the same time, keep in mind the Government's interest by assuring that the expense of such calls are reasonable. Numerous conditions can effect the cost of a telephone call from a foreign country. These include the foreign country's telephone carrier system, hotel add-on costs, additional tariffs added on from country to country, etc.





LAUNDRY, DRY CLEANING, AND PRESSING OF CLOTHING


C. Laundry, Dry Cleaning, and Pressing of Clothing While in Travel Status - CONUS




Effective Date: Travel on or after January 1, 2001


In the continental United States, laundry, cleaning and pressing of clothing at a temporary duty location is reimbursable as a miscellaneous travel expense to civilian employees, subject to the following restrictions:


• The employee must incur a minimum of four consecutive nights lodging on official travel.



• Each Operating Division is responsible for setting a policy on limitations to reimbursement, in partnership with their local unions. The Department's guideline is: Reimbursement should be limited to actual expenses not to exceed an amount equal to: $5 times the number of consecutive nights on the trip for the first 30 days at a temporary duty travel location.



• Receipts are only required for individual purchases of laundry services exceeding $75.



• Long Term Temporary Duty Assignments - Each Operating Division is responsible for setting a policy on limitations to reimbursement, in partnership with their local unions. The Department's guideline is: for extended temporary duty travel at the same location, reimbursement should be limited to actual expenses not to exceed an amount equal to: $3 times the number of consecutive nights on the trip for days 31 through 90; and $2 times the number of consecutive nights on the trip for days beyond 90 days.



• Unusual Circumstances - Under unusual circumstances, laundry and dry cleaning requirements during temporary duty travel exceeding four consecutive nights may necessarily exceed the Operating Division's standard allowance (such as $5 per night). If justified as officially necessary, the authorizing official may authorize a higher daily allowance on the travel order or, if the additional costs were unexpected, the approving official of the travel voucher may approve a higher amount up to the amount of the expenses actually incurred.
  In all cases (pre-approved or post-approved) where unusual circumstances necessitate the incurrence of unusual laundry/dry cleaning costs, the following requirements must be met:
  

  a. The employee must incur a minimum of four consecutive nights lodging on official travel within the continental U.S.
  

  b. A justification for the higher laundry/dry cleaning allowance must be documented on the travel order (pre-authorized) or the approved travel voucher (post-approved).
  

  c. Receipts are required for all laundry/dry cleaning purchases claimed for reimbursement (except coin-operated machine usage where receipts are not available), when the actual expenses claimed on the travel voucher exceed the standard (such as $5 per night) allowance.
  

• Temporary Duty Travel Less than Four Consecutive Days - If a trip within the continental U.S. is less than four consecutive days, there is no authority under the Federal Travel Regulation to authorize or pay a miscellaneous expense allowance for laundry or dry cleaning costs. The $2 incidental expense component of the per diem rate for Meals and Incidental Expenses is the only allowance available to cover such costs.

 


D. Laundry, Dry Cleaning, and Pressing of Clothing While in Travel Status - Outside of CONUS


In non-foreign (OCONUS) and foreign areas, laundry, dry cleaning, and pressing of clothing expenses are covered under the incidental expenses component of per diem allowances issued by the Department of Defense and Department of State, respectively. They may not be authorized or approved as a separate miscellaneous expense item. Non-foreign areas include: Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and territories and possessions of the U.S.



E. Emergency and Other Authorized Miscellaneous Expenses

HHS authorizing and approving officials may authorize or approve reimbursement of miscellaneous expenses beyond the examples listed in the FTR Part 301-12 Miscellaneous Expenses when they determine these expenses to be directly related to the employee's official business travel and justification is provided of the necessity of the purchase. Examples are: official business purchases by employees in temporary duty travel status of: (1) emergency supplies and (2) samples of materials for testing by FDA inspectors.


Heads of Operating Divisions and Staff Divisions or their designees are responsible for establishing appropriate management controls over the authorization and approval of miscellaneous expenses to ensure compliance with the Federal Travel Regulation and these supplemental guidelines. Additionally, they are responsible for ensuring that purchases of goods and services that should be ordered and authorized through procurement processes are not inappropriately approved for payment on travel claims, including temporary duty, relocation, and local travel vouchers.