Request for Reimbursement of Expenses Incurred in Transfer

GAO was asked to determine whether a transferred Federal employee may be reimbursed for a forfeited school deposit as well as for certain expenses incurred in the sale of a cooperative apartment. These costs were sustained in connection with the employee's transfer of official duty station. GAO has held that forfeiture of tuition incident to a transfer is not the kind of expense considered reimbursable as a miscellaneous expense. Since there is no existing provision in the law or the applicable travel regulations which contemplates reimbursement for a forfeited school deposit in these circumstances, the employee's claim for such an expense was denied. Concerning the cooperative apartment carrying charges, the employee claimed relocation expenses in the form of carrying charges deducted from his equity refund in connection with the sale of his cooperative apartment. In the absence of evidence clearly establishing a different arrangement, GAO consistently holds that an interest in a cooperatively owned apartment building is a form of ownership in a residence for which real estate expenses may be reimbursed as provided under the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR). Since carrying charges in a cooperative usually contain items such as interest and principal payments on the mortgage, insurance, utilities, and cost of management and maintenance, they cannot be considered a cost incident to the sale of a residence for which reimbursement is authorized under FTR. The expenses of the type represented by the employee's claim for carrying charges could not be considered a cost incident to the sale of a residence for which reimbursement is authorized. Accordingly, the employee's claim for carrying charges was denied. The employee also claimed itemized expenses for repairs, maintenance, cleaning, and painting in connection with vacating the cooperative apartment incident to the official transfer. Since such charges for reconditioning of a cooperative apartment are maintenance costs which are expressly precluded by applicable regulations, they would not be reimbursed as part of the miscellaneous expense allowance. A claim for a stock transfer tax is covered by FTR and may be paid. Accordingly, the employee's claim may be settled following these guidelines.