The General Services Administration (GSA) is responsible for establishing governmentwide temporary duty travel (TDY) policies and procedures through the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR). The FTR is the governing document for temporary duty travel and transportation allowances for all IRS employees. This IRM supplements the FTR by providing IRS specific policies and procedures where needed.

Local and relocation travel is not covered in this IRM. The IRS policy regarding local travel and relocation are covered in IRM 1.32.1, IRS Local Travel Guide and IRM 1.32.12, IRS Relocation Travel Guide. In 2010, GSA amended the FTR to clarify that it covers only temporary duty travel, not local travel.

5 U.S. Code Section 5701-5711, Regulations and Reports

5 U.S. Code Section 5738, Regulations

31 U.S. Code Section 901, Establishment of agency Chief Financial Officers

31 U.S. Code 902, Authority and Functions of agency Chief Financial Officers

31 U.S. Code Section 903, Establishment of agency Deputy Chief Financial Officers

31 U.S. Code Section 3711, Collection and Compromise

31 U.S. Code Section 3726, Payment for Transportation

49 U.S. Code Section 40118, Government-Financed Air Transportation

Title 41, CFR Chapters 300-304, Federal Travel Regulation

Department of the Treasury Directives

Revenue Ruling 93-86

OMB memo M-24-05, Catalyzing Sustainable Transportation Through Federal Travel

This section provides responsibilities for the following:

The CFO is required to report all travel and transportation payments of more than $5 million during the fiscal year to GSA.

The travel reports include a list of data elements and report formats provided by GSA. The data must be submitted to GSA by November 30 and GSA must issue a government-wide report by January 31 to OMB and Congress to be available to the public.

The following chart below describes internal controls in place for the city-to-city travel program:

This section provides the IRS terms to supplement the FTR, Chapter 300, Part 300-3, Glossary of Terms

The following terms and definitions apply to this program:

The following acronyms apply to this program:

See IRM 1.32.4, Government Travel Card Program, for information on the travel card program and the centrally billed government travel card program

See IRM 6.550.1, Pay Administration (General) for information on compensatory time off for travel when travel outside of regular working hours cannot be avoided and is directed by an employee’s supervisor for the benefit of the government.

See GRS 1.1, item 010 Financial Transaction Records Related to Procuring Goods and Services, Paying Bills, Collecting Debts, and Accounting, for information on approving official retaining receipts for six years in compliance with records retention authorized disposition

See IRM 1.32.11.13, Delegation Orders, for a list of travel related delegation orders.

See United States Rental Car Agreement Number 5, for information on the rental of cars by federal employees when such rental is authorized by the government.

This section provides the guidance and instructions supplementing FTR, Chapter 301, Subchapter B, Part 301-10, Transportation Expenses.

In determining which method of transportation results in the greatest advantage to the government, an approving official should consider the total costs of all transportation methods, including, but not limited to: per diem, overtime, lost work time, total distance to be traveled, salary cost for additional travel time and actual transportation costs.

A transportation method must be authorized based on the most advantageous method of transportation by order of precedence:

This section provides the guidance and instructions supplementing FTR Chapter 301, Subchapter B, Part 301-11, Per Diem Expenses, including the following:

Employees must be in travel status more than 12 hours to be eligible for per diem.

If employees travel more than 12 hours but less than 24 hours, they may receive 3/4 of the per diem for each calendar day they are in travel status. This 12-hour rule does not necessarily mean that they are away from home for tax purposes, and the per diem may be taxable income. See IRM 1.32.11.6, Taxable Travel Reimbursement.

Employees may not receive per diem expenses at their official assigned duty station/POD or the place of residence from which they commute daily to the official assigned duty station/POD. Employees are required to travel a certain distance to receive per diem. The TDY location must be more than 50 miles from both the official assigned duty station/POD and residence, measured by odometer or other readings on the most direct route. Any point beyond both these distances is outside the commuting area. Employees may receive per diem even if the TDY location is within the commuting area, if the criteria under IRM 1.32.1.8, Per Diem for Local Travel, are met. Reimbursement of per diem expenses (lodging and/or M&IE) incurred within the commuting area is considered taxable income. See IRM 1.32.1.8, Per Diem for Local Travel and 1.32.1.11, Taxable Travel Reimbursement.

If employees are unable to consume a government-furnished meal, the approving official may allow the employees to claim the full M&IE allowance if their situation meets all the criteria listed below:

Employees must use ETS or the TMC to identify suitable facilities that are at or below authorized per diem rates and should consider the perception of luxury accommodations (such as resorts, villas, timeshares, and golf clubs/spas), even if lodging at these facilities is available at the government rate. Fedrooms rates should be used when available.

Early check-in, late check-out, cancelation or “no-show” fees will not be approved for employee convenience or for failure to cancel timely. The employee must verify hotel check-in, check-out times and cancelation policies before making reservations and plan to arrive and depart at those established times. Most hotels will hold luggage at no charge with the hotel concierge. Fees incurred may only be claimed when incurred due to business reasons and approved on Form 15299, Travel Approval Request. Employees must attempt to obtain a refund for cancelation or “no-show” fees and provide documentation of refusal to refund with Form 15299.

This section provides the guidance and instructions supplementing FTR Chapter 301, Subchapter B, Part 301-12, Miscellaneous Expenses.

The IRS may reimburse employees for emergency and non-emergency personal telephone calls while away from the usual place of work, whether or not the calls are within the local area, if approved by the approving official. Employees must furnish a statement of telephone charges, including date, place called, and amount, for all long distance calls for which they request reimbursement. Employees are required to provide receipts, regardless of amount.

Expenses associated with airport security fast-pass membership fees in registered and/or trusted traveler programs (such as TSA Precheck or Fly Clear) are not reimbursable for the purposes of government travel.

Employees may be reimbursed for the first standard checked bag fees charged by the airline, when authorized. The approving official may authorize additional checked or overweight baggage, if it is determined that additional or overweight baggage is needed for official reasons. Employees must provide a justification in ETS when the baggage expense exceeds $50. Tips at transportation terminals for handling government property carried by the employee are reimbursable. Tips for personal baggage are not reimbursable.

The IRS may reimburse employees for internet access on a common carrier, while they are on official travel, as a miscellaneous expense, when access is required for official business. This expense is not reimbursable if they have a hot spot. Reimbursement will be limited to the internet access fee charged by the airline and must be paid with the GOVCC.

The IRS may reimburse expenses incurred for laundry, dry cleaning and pressing of clothing as a miscellaneous travel expense for TDY within CONUS when necessary for official business. However, the employee must incur a minimum of four or more consecutive nights lodging on official travel to qualify for this reimbursement and must attach receipts regardless of the amount. If a coin operated laundry facility is used, employees must notate in comments coin operated laundry facility used. These reimbursements are meant for employees to maintain clean clothing while on an extended assignment. IRS will not reimburse for laundry and dry-cleaning expenses incurred after a TDY assignment ends. Laundry and dry-cleaning expenses have not been removed from foreign per diem rates established by the Department of State, or from non-foreign area per diem rates established by the Department of Defense. Separate claims for laundry and dry-cleaning expenses incurred in foreign areas (OCONUS) and non-foreign areas (OCONUS) are not allowed.

Transaction fees plus cash advance fees up to 2.5% for obtaining a cash advance on the travel card.

Miscellaneous and emergency expenses may be claimed when an employee provides a detailed explanation. A receipt is required regardless of the dollar amount.

This section provides the guidance and instructions supplementing FTR Chapter 301, Subchapter B, Parts 301-13, 301-30, 301-31 and Subchapter D, 301-70 and 301-75, including:

Foreign travel is official travel outside of the United States and its territories and possessions.

Official travel to and from points outside the United States and its territories and possessions must be approved in advance by the Deputy Commissioner LB&I.

Employees who request approval for foreign travel must follow the procedures in IRM 1.32.5, International Travel Office Procedures and the LB&I International Travel Office sharepoint site and CCDM 30.5.2.5.

Employees will work with the TMC to make all travel arrangements, including flight, rail, hotel and rental car (if applicable), when booked outside of ETS. See exceptions in IRM 1.32.11.7.1 (4) and (6), Arranging for Travel Services.

Where the origin and/or destination are OCONUS, and the scheduled flight time, including stopovers and change of planes, exceeds 14 hours, and there is no rest period provided during or after the flight in accordance with FTR 301-10.125, the CFO may authorize use of business-class accommodations in lieu of an authorized rest period. A flight over 14 hours may not necessarily qualify for the use of premium class travel, see IRM 1.32.11.5.1.1(7) (e), Airline Accommodations. Employees must make every effort to schedule their travel so they have a rest period prior to starting work. A rest period (a rest stop or rest period is defined as full night of sleep of eight hours or more) en route or at the temporary duty destination negates the use of business-class travel. Engaging in only routine work (i.e., email, etc.) prior to a rest period is not sufficient to justify premium class. Employees must submit a request to use business-class accommodations in advance of the trip in accordance with the requirements of IRM 1.32.11.5.1.1(4) - (10), Airline Accommodations. Business-class travel can only be authorized when there is no rest stop and the trip is greater than 14 hours (41 CFR 301-10.125 (c)). This request requires completed form TD F 70-02.6 and Form 15095, First-Class/Business-Class Approval Checklist.

The approving official can authorize a rest period when the flight time is in excess of 14 hours including stopovers or change of planes. The employee must fly coach if the trip includes a rest period en route or a rest period upon arrival at the duty site in accordance with the FTR. Employees who request approval for a rest period immediately preceding or following periods of annual leave or non-workdays will not be authorized. The request must be made and approved separately for the outbound and the return flights.

When the origin and/or destination is OCONUS and scheduled flight time, including stopovers or change of planes is more than 8 hours, premium economy seating may be authorized by the Senior ACFO for Financial Management, no rest period may be authorized if other than coach class is approved.

In limited circumstances (e.g., no available flights) a rest period of more than 24 hours may be authorized.

Employees whose travel includes a non-US flag carrier transportation on a common carrier that does not meet the Fly America Act (49 U.S.C. 40188) requirements even when there is an Open Skies Agreement, must receive prior approval from the Director of Travel Management before traveling. Employees must complete Form 15402, Justification Certificate for Use of a Foreign-Flag Carrier or Vessel, and submit prior to travel to the *CFO.FM.Travel.Review@irs.gov mailbox for review and submission for approval, see IRM 1.32.11.5.1.1 (17) - (19), Airline Accommodations.

Employees may accept meals from foreign governments or entities without reducing the per diem.

Employees must calculate lodging per day based on the conversion rate. Lodging tax is included in the daily lodging rate and may not be claimed separately for foreign travel.

Employees with foreign travel that crosses the international date line, if travel is entered correctly, ETS will correctly calculate the authorized per diem entitlements. Employees should not manually try to change per diem entitlements.

Invitational travel occurs when the IRS invites and pays the travel expenses for individuals not employed by the IRS or employed intermittently by the government. This includes:

Reimbursement for invitational travelers is subject to the same regulations as travel by IRS employees.

The guest of an award recipient is considered to be an invitational traveler and travel authorizations and reimbursement expenses are the same as those normally authorized for IRS employees in conjunction with a temporary duty assignment.

Employees who receive a major award may be accompanied to the ceremony by one guest as an invitational traveler. Major awards ceremonies include:

If award recipients require special assistance, they may receive reimbursement for an attendant, in addition to the person accompanying the award recipient, as permitted in IRM 1.32.11.5.4.1, Travel of an Employee with Special Needs.

The IRS funding for non-IRS award ceremonies is limited to the award recipient and their manager/representative. The IRS will only authorize registration fees and local travel expenses to the award ceremony for the employee and the manager. Non-IRS award ceremonies include:

The invitational traveler's profile must be established to make travel reservations and to process manual authorizations and vouchers. The business unit coordinator can provide the traveler with a worksheet to establish the traveler's profile. The traveler can provide the completed profile request to the business unit coordinator.

The business unit coordinator prepares Form 13635, Manual Travel Authorization, and provides a copy of the authorization to the invitational traveler and requests the traveler’s original or electronic signature on the authorization. The invitational traveler must submit an approved Form 13635, Manual Travel Authorization, before travel begins.

Invitational travelers, other than federal government employees, must use the CBA to pay for the purchase of common carrier tickets through the TMC. Transportation must be arranged by calling the TMC.

For lodging and rental car reservations, the invitational traveler must provide a personal credit card number to hold the reservations. Invitational travelers who do not provide a credit card number will need to arrange their own lodging and rental car. Invitational travelers should be notified of the TDY per diem rates, which define their reimbursement limits.

Invitational travelers cannot receive a travel advance.

An approving official may approve invitational travel as provided in Delegation Order 1-30, Authorization and Approval of Official Travel within the United States. The approved authorization must be mailed or efaxed to Travel Operations to process into IFS. Documentation can also be emailed to *CFO BFC Travel Authorizations and Accounting Codes.

The IRS pays by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). The IRS may grant a waiver for direct deposit by EFT if no more than one reimbursement is expected to be paid to the same recipient within a one-year period. Invitational travelers must inform the business unit that they are unable to accept payment by EFT and complete a Request for Waiver of EFT Payment for Individuals form. A business unit can obtain a copy of the form from the IRS Source, Employee Resources, Travel, Travel Policy and Forms.
The traveler must mail the form along to:

The business unit coordinator must verify that the invitational travel has been completed. The traveler will have to complete and provide a signed paper voucher, Form 15342, Travel Voucher, for their travel, as well as provide all necessary receipts for claims, to the business unit coordinator.

The business unit coordinator will do the following when the travel is completed:

Invitational travel is reimbursed by the business unit coordinator submitting the approved Form 15342, Travel Voucher, required receipts, and Form SF1199-A, Direct Deposit Sign-up Form, to Travel Operations. Efax to 855-787-4375, email to *CFO BFC Travel Vouchers, (cfo.bfc.travel.voucher@irs.gov) or mail to:

Training travel occurs when the IRS requires an employee to travel to attend courses or professional meetings involving, scientific or professional societies, or municipal, state, federal or international organizations. Also, training travel includes travel to attend:

In accordance with IRS reporting requirements, all travelers attending an event, conference or training as defined in TD 12-70 must use the correct Internal Order Code (IOC) for tracking and reporting purposes and must attach reporting instructions to their voucher.

The IRS may authorize travel at the government expense to attend funerals if attendance by an official IRS representative is considered important to the mission of the agency, and the appropriate representative would be unable to attend without the travel being authorized at the government expense. Only one employee can serve as an official IRS representative at a funeral. This type of travel is limited to the United States and its territories and possessions.

The business head of office is the authorizing official to approval attendance of IRS representation at a funeral. The authorization must be documented in a memorandum. After the employee receives the approved memorandum to attend the funeral, the employee can process the authorization in ETS. The memo must be uploaded into ETS when the employee submits the voucher. The travel is charged to the applicable business unit’s LOA of the employee designated as the official IRS representative.

LTTT is overnight travel (city-to-city) to a work location that cannot be considered temporary. Overnight travel is always long-term, and is not considered temporary, if the travel away from home to a single location is realistically expected to last for more than one year. The realistic expectation is based on the information known to the employee and manager. The travel becomes taxable at the point it is expected to exceed one year.

Executives are not to be in travel status for more than 75 nights to a single location in any fiscal year without the appropriate approval.

In advance of placing an employee on LTTT, business units must complete a business case/cost and benefit analysis, considering a temporary or permanent change of station versus LTTT. Business units considering a request for LTTT should contact the CFO office at CFO.FM.Travel.Review@irs.gov for assistance and further guidance in preparing the business case.

A manager who knows, or can reasonably expect, that an employee will receive a LTTT assignment must ensure that it is authorized on Form 12654, Authorization for Long-Term Taxable Travel, and that the Form 12654 is signed by the manager and employee each calendar year of the LTTT assignment. The employee’s first-level executive must approve the LTTT, and the approval and the business case analysis must be uploaded into ETS with each voucher. A copy should also be sent to the CFO at CFO.FM.Travel.Review@irs.gov.

In determining if the travel is LTTT, the following criteria is used:

Employees who are in a LTTT assignment incur liabilities for the applicable Medicare withholding and Social Security withholding of Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes and applicable federal, state and local income taxes. The IRS withholds the appropriate amounts from their travel reimbursements. Energy Policy Act of 1992, Public Law 102-486, and Revenue Ruling 93-86 require the IRS to tax long-term travel.

The IRS will process an Extended TDY Tax Reimbursement Allowance (ETTRA) to those employees incurring an additional income tax liability resulting from long-term travel reimbursements. A final ETTRA payment is made to the employee in the following year after travel reimbursements are made. ETTRA policy does not allow reimbursement of Medicare and FICA.

When a travel voucher claiming LTTT expenses is paid to the employee, federal, state, Medicare and Social Security taxes are withheld from the reimbursement. A Withholding Tax Allowance (WTA) is paid to reimburse the employee the federal, state and local tax withholdings on the taxable travel expenses. (The formula for the WTA is a gross-up formula because it also reimburses the employee the federal tax withholdings on the WTA itself, since the WTA is also considered income to the employee.)

The LTTT reimbursement is considered wages and taxable for federal, state, Medicare and Social Security tax purposes. The financial system has been configured in accordance with state withholding regulations based upon information received from all states. If the employee’s state does not have a withholding requirement and the voucher reflects a state withholding, the employee should complete an IRS Service Central ticket immediately.

If employees reach the maximum Social Security withholding amount of taxable earnings for the year, Travel Operations has a procedure in place to reimburse employees any over-withholding of Social Security taxes on LTTT payments. Each year, Travel Operations sends notices to employees who received LTTT payments during the previous calendar year. This notice informs the employees how to file a claim for the over withholding amount if they believe excess Social Security taxes were withheld on all taxable wages.

Employees on domestic LTTT must enter the information in ETS. Employees who are on domestic or foreign LTTT, must use Purpose Code "L" for LTTT expenses associated with TDY travel, and Purpose Code "W" for LTTT expenses associated with training travel.

A copy of Form 12654 must be retained, along with other required supporting documentation, for LTTT travel vouchers with the employee personnel file in compliance with GRS 1.1, item 010 Financial Transaction Records Related to Procuring Goods and Services, Paying Bills, Collecting Debts, and Accounting, records retention authorized disposition.

The Form 12654 should be faxed or scanned into ETS each time a voucher is filed. Also, if the employee submits a manual voucher using Form 15342, Travel Voucher, then the Form 12654 should be submitted to Travel Operations each time a voucher is filed.

Taxable travel-related payments are not considered basic pay for the purpose of the Thrift Saving Plan (TSP).

If there was no LTTT travel authorization and withholding on the voucher, the manager and employee should complete and sign the travel authorization as soon as possible to correct a potential incorrectly classified travel vouchers. All vouchers with expenses that should have been charged under purpose code "L" for LTTT expenses will require manual intervention by Travel Operations. If travelers did not classify their vouchers properly, they should submit a statement to CFO.FM.Travel.Review@irs.gov giving an accounting of the LTTT transaction. Travel Review will instruct Travel Operations to reclassify the specific vouchers and amounts to taxable or non-taxable. Long-term travel is considered income under the Internal Revenue Code. Also, not classifying LTTT accurately violates established tax reporting requirements.

This section provides the guidance and instructions supplementing FTR Chapter 301, Subchapter B, Part 301-11, Subpart F, Extended TDY Tax Reimbursement Allowance(ETTRA).

The ETTRA reimburses employees for their federal, state, and local income tax liability incurred as the result of being reimbursed for travel expenses while on LTTT. The Travel and Transportation Reform Act of 1998 authorizes federal agencies to reimburse employees for federal, state, and local income taxes incurred as a result of LTTT. The employees will be reimbursed substantially for the additional federal, state, and local income tax liabilities. The income tax reimbursement will be paid in two parts:

Employees are required to file an ETTRA claim if they received taxable reimbursements associated with LTTT travel during the previous year and received a WTA.

Employees must file their ETTRA claim no later than six months (180 days) after receiving notice of the need to file. If employees do not file an ETTRA claim, it will be assumed that their ETTRA amount is zero. Consequently, employees would have to repay the amount of the WTA previously paid to them for the related reimbursements. Employees may request an extension of the filing date; however, for Travel Operations to consider the request, they must show just cause, such as approval of extension to file their current year federal tax return.

This section provides the guidance and instructions supplementing FTR Section 301-10.110 and FTR Subchapters 301-50 through 301-52. These provisions address the use of contract city pair program fares, arranging for travel services, paying travel expenses, and claiming reimbursement, respectively.

Employees must use ETS for transportation (air/rail), car rental and hotel reservations.

If an employee fails to use ETS or TMC, the employee will become responsible for any additional costs such as outside vendors’ transaction fees, electronic ticketing fees, delivery fees or cancellation fees. Request to claim any travel expenses incurred by arranging travel outside of the ETS or TMC (including nightly lodging rate), requires approval from the director of Travel Management. Employees must submit Form 15299, Travel Approval Request, to the cfo.fm.travel.review@irs.gov before claiming the expense. In addition, the approving official may take appropriate disciplinary actions as stated in the IRS Guide to Penalty Determinations, Failure to Observe Written Regulations, Orders, Rules or the IRS Procedures. An audit may result in a referral to Labor/Employee Relations and Negotiations for further determination of disciplinary action for failure to comply with official travel policy.

TMC services include both online and agent-assisted travel reservations. The TMC will conduct quality checks to ensure the reservation is complete and provide travel reservation support.

Employees must use a contract City-Pair Program fare for scheduled air passenger transportation service when one is available unless one of the limited exceptions exists: (Refer to FTR 301-10.110)

Employees may go directly to the TMC (instead of using ETS) in the following situations:

Employees should always check to see if there is a tax exemption form available for the TDY location they are traveling to that would allow an exemption for the lodging taxes. Employees must pay for their lodging with their government travel card to qualify for lodging tax exemption. Employees may need to fill out a lodging tax exemption form and present it at check-in. The lodging tax exemption forms can be found on the Traveler’s Toolkit.

The employee may reserve a room by contacting the hotel directly if:

You may be reimbursed the cost of other types of non-conventional lodging when there are no conventional lodging facilities in the area (e.g., World’s Fair or other international sporting event) and the TDY assignment is for 30 nights or more. Such lodging includes college dormitories or similar facilities or rooms not offered commercially but made available to the public by area residents in their homes. Refer to IRM 1.32.11.1.6(ac), Terms/Definitions, for definition of non-conventional lodging.

The TMC will email an itinerary confirming the reservation to the email address listed in the employee’s profile. If an employee does not receive an email itinerary within 24 hours after the approving official has approved the authorization, they should contact the TMC.

Unless otherwise requested, most refundable reservations will be ticketed two to three days in advance of the travel departure date. Upon ticketing, the TMC will email an invoice to employees, as a confirmation of ticketing. Restricted and penalty fares usually require immediate ticketing. Amtrak tickets may be issued in advance as Amtrak has different ticketing requirements.

If an employee needs to cancel their reservation, they should immediately take the following actions to avoid unnecessary fees:

The ETS allows employees to make as many changes as necessary for air, hotel and/or car reservations after employees have submitted (booked) their reservation for purchase prior to ticketing. Reservations are set up for ticketing 3-4 business days prior to departure or when the manager has approved the authorization in ETS for car/hotel only reservations. However, once the TMC has issued tickets, employees will not be able to make any changes in ETS. If a change in travel plans occurs after the ticket has been issued, they need to call the TMC to make the change. Employees will be charged a full-service Concur Government Edition (CGE) transaction fee for the change, in addition to their previous CGE reservation fee, regardless of whether they made the initial arrangements using ETS. A CGE reservation fee is charged each time a ticket is issued.

In the event the trip is canceled or rescheduled by the airlines, and it is within the airline's control, the airline is required to book employees on its next available flight, at no additional cost.

If employees miss their flight, they need to call the TMC for assistance.

The TMC has a live representative to assist with emergency travel. The emergency phone number is listed on the itinerary. If employees have an after-hours travel emergency or need to resolve an en route problem, employees need to call the TMC directly for assistance.

If round-trip Amtrak tickets are equal to or less than $100, employees may purchase tickets directly from Amtrak using the government travel card or personal funds. Employees must still enter their authorization and voucher in ETS. If round-trip Amtrak tickets cost more than $100, employees must use their government travel card and go through the TMC to book the reservations.

If employees want to pick up tickets at an Amtrak station kiosk, they should do the following:

Employees must use ETS to make their reservations for international travel. Employees should contact the TMC directly to book international travel with multiple legs as the TMC is better able to assist them. Employees must get prior approval for foreign travel from LB&I in accordance with IRM 1.32.11.5.5, Foreign Travel, before making their reservations.

Travel expenses requiring special approval are handled in ETS by a feature called "conditional routing," which allows for various travel expenses to be routed to the appropriate official for approval. This includes but is not limited to: first-class, business-class, and premium economy airfare, foreign travel and use of the CBA.

The ETS defaults to etickets. Paper tickets are issued only when itineraries cannot be eticketed. Please note, travelers will not be reimbursed for fees associated with paper tickets when etickets are available. Employees requesting paper tickets for personal reasons will need to provide a personal form of payment to the TMC at the time of reservation.

The list of hotels displayed in ETS are not within the per diem rate for that destination. The list of available hotels that ETS provides to employees does not specifically isolate "per diem" hotels; some rates listed will be over the allowable per diem rate. Employees will need to know the per diem rate for the destination and then find a suitable hotel from the list of hotels. Links to domestic and international per diem tables are available on the hotel ETS request page.

If employees choose to drive rather than fly to the TDY and flying is the authorized, they must complete Form 15278, Travel Cost Comparison Worksheet, and attach it to the authorization to compare the constructive official travel transportation related-cost versus the actual travel transportation related-cost. Employees must attach a copy of the documentation used to estimate the constructive cost of common carrier and/or car rental.

Once the travel is completed, employees must update and attach Form 15278, Travel Cost Comparison Worksheet, and update the voucher to reflect any changes that may have occurred. Reimbursement is limited to the lesser amount of the official travel or the actual travel costs. Employees must attach a copy of the documentation used to estimate the constructive cost of common carrier and/or car rental.

Employees need to follow the instructions available on the IRS Source website for access to ETS.

The ETS has an online training course available through ITM. There are also specialty courses available for approving officials, reviewers, preparers and conditional routers.

Employees can find more about ETS by going to the Traveler’s Toolkit.

The ETS charges two fees, a CGE reservation fee and a CGE voucher fee when booking official travel reservations. The CGE reservation fee combines both ETS and TMC fees for reservations made within ETS or directly with the TMC. The CGE reservation fee is charged when the ticket is issued, when the authorization is approved (car, hotel and some rail fares), or on the day of arrival on car/hotel only reservations that are not canceled timely.

The CGE reservation fee automatically populates on an ETS travel authorization when employees complete their authorization in ETS.

Employees will be charged an additional CGE transaction reservation fee if another ticket is issued because of a required change to the itinerary.

The ETS will automatically remove the CGE reservation fee when all reservations are removed from an adjusted or amended authorization that has not been stamped ticketed. If the ticket has been issued and the trip has been canceled, the employee will need to file a voucher for the CGE fee.

The online CGE reservation fee will change to an agent-assist CGE transaction fee when an agent intervention/assistance is necessary (i.e., credit card declines, authorizations not approved timely, responding "Yes" to an email regarding an unapproved authorization).

The CGE voucher fee is a charge when using ETS to process a voucher. This fee is paid directly to ETS. The fee auto-populates in the authorization and is charged when the voucher is approved. The fee amount varies based on the type of travel, local or city-to-city, and cannot be edited.

The CGE voucher fee appears automatically on each travel voucher and is paid by the IRS after each travel voucher is processed. Employees should not claim CGE fees as reimbursable expenses on their travel vouchers.

The employee profile provides the TMC and the ETS information needed to make a reservation in accordance with the employee’s preferences. It includes the employee's name, home and office station mailing addresses, office phone number, IRS email address, billing information, preferred airport, frequent flyer numbers, preferred airline seating, and any special accommodations needed. Employees must ensure profile information is correct before booking reservations or creating travel documents.

In accordance with the new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) requirements, the name printed on an employee’s ticket must match the name identification (ID) in the ETS profile used at the airport security checkpoint.

Frequent flyer membership names must match the ETS profile name exactly to ensure reservations may be booked successfully online in ETS.

If an employee is deemed eligible for a government travel card and is expected to travel, the card must be issued within 45 days of reporting for duty. Travel cards should be activated upon receipt.

Employees should use the travel card to the maximum extent possible. At a minimum, they must use the government travel card to pay for transportation, lodging, rental cars, rental car fuel/oil and baggage expenses.

Employees who are not eligible to receive a government travel card, must use the Centrally Billed Account (CBA) for transportation expenses.

The features of the standard and restricted travel cards are as follows:

New employees are exempt until they obtain the government travel card. New employees who will travel are expected to obtain and activate a travel card as soon as it is received.

Employees may not use their government travel card for any personal expenses including:

The IRS exempts the following groups of employees from the mandatory use of the government travel card:

Employees seeking an exemption from use of the government travel card must prepare a memorandum through their manager requesting an exemption and submit it by email for approval to the appropriate office:

Management may take disciplinary actions when a government travel card has been used inappropriately. Disciplinary actions range from oral and written reprimands, to possible suspension without pay, or removal. Managers should contact Labor/Employee Relations and Negotiations for advice and assistance regarding disciplinary action.

Employees must use one of the following methods for payment of common carrier transportation expenses:

The following payment methods are considered the equivalent of cash:

If employees make unauthorized cash purchases of common carrier transportation outside of ETS or the TMC, the reimbursement will be limited to the cost of such transportation using the authorized booking method. Employees must submit a Travel Approval Request to the CFO.FM.Travel.Review@irs.gov mailbox before claiming this expense.

Employees will use the ATM feature of their government travel card to obtain advances. If an employee has a restricted government travel card or no card at all, then the approving official may authorize the issuance of travel advances through ETS or a manual travel authorization. If approved, employees can only receive one advance per authorization. The approving official should minimize the use of cash travel advances.

Employees must use the following method to obtain a travel advance:

If employees obtain an ATM cash advance, they do not account for the cash withdrawal on their voucher because it is accounted for through their travel expenses. When filing the travel voucher, they will enter all their expenses as they normally do.

The ATM cash withdrawal service fees and the 2.5% cash advance fee can be claimed as a miscellaneous expense.

The ATM cash advance can be used to purchase fuel prior to official travel and taxi expenses that cannot be charged to the individually billed government travel card. See FTR 301-51.200 for other expenses for which an employee may receive a travel advance.

There is a limit on the amount of an advance employees can receive on an authorization if they are performing LTTT travel. The travel advances cannot exceed the estimated cost of the trip minus all taxes.

If employees are eligible for an advance by EFT, it takes three to five days from the date the approving official approves the advance request for the EFT to process and be deposited in the designated account. If employees wish to receive the advance two to three days prior to the departure, then the approving official needs to approve the advance request at least five working days before the departure date.

An employee’s travel advance must be liquidated when:

If the employee’s trip is canceled, postponed, or the travel authorization expires, the employee must submit payment by check or money order within five days made payable to the IRS and mail it to the following address:

Internal Revenue Service
ATTN: Debt Collection Unit
P.O. Box 9002
Beckley, WV 25802

When employees file their travel voucher, ETS will automatically apply the travel reimbursement to any outstanding advance(s). There are no exceptions to liquidating an advance at the time employees file a travel voucher. Employees must liquidate the advance when they file their voucher.

Employees cannot liquidate their travel advance with a supplemental voucher after the final voucher is filed because the travel advance is no longer available in ETS. Any unliquidated travel advance will be converted to an employee debt when the final voucher is processed. The approving official is responsible for monitoring the travel advance(s) to ensure repayment is made timely.

The portion of the travel advance which exceeds the travel expenses claimed on an approved travel voucher becomes a debt upon completion of the trip for which the advance was issued.

When the outstanding advance exceeds the travel expenses on the travel voucher, employees must submit a check or money order for the excess amount. The check or money order must be made payable to the IRS and submitted to:
Internal Revenue Service
ATTN: Debt Collection Unit
P.O. Box 9002
Beckley, WV 25802-9002

Employees need to be aware that travel advances can be used to offset delinquent debts they owe to a federal or state agency through the Treasury Offset Program (TOP). If employees owe a delinquent debt to a federal or state agency and that agency refers the debt to Treasury, then Treasury will offset any federal payment due to the employee to enforce collection of the delinquent debt. Federal payments eligible for offset include the employee’s federal salary, travel advances and reimbursements, tax refunds, and federal retirement payments. If the advance is offset by TOP, the employee must pay back the travel advance when filing the voucher.

If employees’ travel advances were processed in ETS and intercepted through TOP to pay a delinquent debt they owe to the IRS (for example, an unliquidated prior travel advance) or another debt owed, they cannot request a manual travel advance. Employees cannot receive two advances for the same authorization.

If employees do not submit a check or money order for the full amount that exceeds the travel expenses with their approved travel voucher to fully liquidate the travel advance, it is considered a debt and subject to the debt collection procedures provided by applicable legislative and regulatory authority, including the Debt Collection Act of 1982, Public Law 97-365, Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, Public Law 104-134, and the Federal Claims Collection Standards. These authorities provide for the assessment of interest, penalties, and administrative charges, and collection by administrative, salary, and tax-refund offset.

If employees do not repay their travel advance upon notification that their trip was canceled, postponed, or if they do not file their travel voucher within 30 days of the end of the travel date, and the authorization expires, the entire amount of the travel advance is considered a debt and subject to the debt collection procedures.

The travel advance becomes taxable if it remains outstanding for more than 150 days from the date on the first deobligation notification the employee received from the ETS. Additionally, if the advance becomes taxable, the employee must still repay the advance in full.

The travel advance will not be reported as taxable income if employees file a travel voucher substantiating the expenses and return any excess amount to Travel Operations within 150 days from the first deobligation notification. Employees should liquidate the advance by submitting a travel voucher within five workdays after completion of travel.

If an employee does not repay a travel advance when submitting a manual travel voucher, the approving official should return the voucher to the employee and request that Section 8 on Form 15342, Travel Voucher, be completed.

The Family Support Act of 1988, Public Law No. 100-485, requires the IRS to report, as taxable income, any overdue unliquidated travel advance.

Employees must sign the voucher within five days of the trip end date. If they don’t sign the voucher within 30 days of the trip end date, ETS will de-obligate the money used to fund the trip. The system will email notifications to the employee 5, 25 and 30 days before de-obligating the authorization. The employee will need to create a new authorization. Employees will not be able to modify the authorization once it has been canceled. If they have expenses associated with the cancelled authorization, they are required to process a new travel authorization.

If employees travel on behalf of the IRS, they must account for their expenses through the travel voucher process. They must submit their travel voucher in one of two formats: electronically using ETS, or manually, if the travel authorization was manually submitted. Employees must submit the voucher within five workdays after completion of travel or every 30 days for continuous travel.

Employees must provide the following information on their travel voucher:

The approving official should, within seven calendar days, approve or return the voucher for correction to ensure payment within 30 calendar days after submission by employees.

If employees file through ETS, the reimbursement will occur through a split disbursement process. If they file a manual Form 15342, Travel Voucher, they will receive reimbursement for all claimed expenses by EFT.

Employees are required to use split disbursement. Split disbursement is the default payment method for ETS. All employees have the option to change the method and amount of payment (i.e., meals and incidental expenses not charged on the travel card). However, if the method and amount of payment is changed, employees will be required to explain why the default split disbursement payment method was not used, which will be evaluated as part of the ETS pre-audit process.

Split disbursement permits direct payment via EFT to the government travel card and employee. Charges incurred on the travel card are disbursed to the bank and any residual amounts to the employee for expenses not charged to the government travel card. All airfare, lodging, rental car, and non-mileage expenses charged on the travel card will be credited to the government travel card account after the approved voucher is processed and the payment will go directly to the government travel card issuer. Employees will receive a bill reflecting the charges and the payments processed from ETS. The government travel card issuer will bill employees for the balance of any unpaid amounts.

If employees have travel expenses that should be charged to a different LOA, the office directing the travel is responsible for providing instructions to the traveler containing the correct LOA to use when filing travel vouchers.

Employees must provide receipts and supporting documentation when they file their travel voucher for:

An employee’s government travel card statement cannot be scanned or faxed as supporting documentation, nor as a receipt for lodging expenses, airfare or rental car expenses. The government travel card statement does not breakout the detailed travel expenses for reimbursement.

Employees should submit travel receipts by:

When filing a manual travel voucher, employees must provide all required receipts, or explain in writing why they are unable to provide the necessary receipts. The explanation must be acceptable to the approving official. If they submit copies of receipts, they must also attach a justification statement explaining the reason(s) why the original receipts cannot be provided. The approving official will return any voucher submitted with copies of receipts without a justification statement. If employees cannot provide a receipt, they must provide an explanation on the travel voucher indicating why the receipt was not provided. Inconvenience is not an acceptable explanation for failure to provide receipts.

Employees may claim reimbursement on the travel voucher for non-travel costs not directly related to the performance of travel but incurred during travel. Travelers must provide a detailed description and a receipt for any administrative expense regardless of dollar amount. Claims over $300 for a single day must be submitted on a SF1034, Public Voucher for Purchases. Additional information on Employee Reimbursables is available in IRM 1.35.3.5.2.9. Expenses included are:

Other non-travel expenses incurred during official travel such as office supplies must be claimed on SF1034, Public Voucher for Purchases, and submitted to Travel Operations for processing with the receipt(s).

Employees cannot submit claims for confidential expenses on travel vouchers.

Training and conference fees must be paid using a small purchase procurement method. Employees cannot claim a training or conference fee on a travel voucher. Employees should contact their business unit finance office for more information.

Employees must sign their voucher electronically in ETS and, if filing a manual voucher, must prepare their claim on Form 15342, Travel Voucher, and sign electronically. Any alterations to a manual travel voucher must be initialed.

The approving official must authorize and approve travel vouchers as provided in Delegation Order 1-30, Authorization and Approval of Official Travel within the United States.

The traveler and approving official are responsible for the validity of the voucher and must ensure all travel expenses are prudent, accurate, and necessary by acknowledging that they have read and understand the truth and accuracy statement before signing or approving the voucher.

The approving officials must do the following if they disallow an expense claimed on a travel voucher:

Employees who challenge a disallowed claim must submit a request for reconsideration of the disallowed amount by sending the voucher back to the approving official with a full explanation of the circumstances and the reasons for considering the amount of reimbursement. If the approving official denies the request for reconsideration, employees may submit a request for reconsideration of the disallowance to CFO.FM.Travel.Review@irs.gov mailbox and must include:

If an employee’s request to challenge a disallowed claim is approved by Travel Management, and if they submitted a voucher using ETS, they must process a supplemental voucher in ETS using the Amend link. If a manual voucher was submitted, employees need to:

If an employee’s challenge of a disallowed claim request for reconsideration is denied by Travel Management, the employee may submit the request reconsideration as follows:

Employees will receive their reimbursement three to five workdays after the travel voucher is approved in ETS.

If a travel expense is inadvertently omitted from a travel voucher, employees may file a supplemental voucher to claim the expense. Employees must have receipts for amounts claimed over $75 on a supplemental voucher, just as required for an original voucher.

Employees who need to correct errors in an already paid voucher should do the following: