Claim for Real Estate Expenses and Excess Valuation Charges

An authorized certifying officer with the Internal Revenue Service requested an advance decision on a reclaim voucher for certain real estate expenses submitted by an employee incident to a permanent change of duty station. The employee requested reimbursement of a document fee and a warehouse fee in connection with the sale of his residence. Additionally, the employee claimed responsibility for only a portion of an insurance premium assessed on his household goods shipment, because he contended that the Government was responsible for the remaining amount. GAO stated that the employee could not be reimbursed for the two items because the document fee is customarily paid by the purchaser of a residence, not the seller, and the warehouse fee is a finance charge which is not reimbursable according to Federal travel regulations. GAO also stated that, according to Federal regulations, an employee may declare an insurance valuation above the carrier's minimum released valuation, but he must bear the additional costs of coverage. An employee may not be given an offset for the amount of coverage provided by the Government, because the Government assumes its own risks and therefore pays no premiums for insurance. Accordingly, the denial of the claim was sustained.