[Question Concerning Payment of Temporary Quarters Subsistence Expenses]

An advance decision was requested as to whether a National Aeronautics and Space Administration employee's claim for temporary quarters subsistence expenses should be paid. The employee rented a furnished apartment during the period he was assigned to temporary duty and claimed that he moved out of the apartment when he returned to his permanent duty site. The employee was issued permanent change-of-station orders to his temporary duty site which included authorization for temporary quarters subsistence expenses. When the employee returned to his new duty site, he occupied the same apartment he left and submitted a claim for temporary quarters subsistence expenses for 60 days. The certifying officer questioned whether the apartment was ever vacated due to the lodging receipt submitted. GAO has held that a temporary quarters subsistence expenses allowance may not be paid to an employee who, after the date of his transfer, continues to occupy the same quarters which he occupied during temporary duty. GAO found that the evidence the employee submitted with his claim failed to show that the quarters were ever vacated. Accordingly, the claim may not be paid. However, if the employee submits new evidence to support his claim that he vacated the apartment, the agency may reconsider his claim.