[IRS Employee's Appeal of Denied Claim for Real Estate Expenses]

An Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee appealed his disallowed claim for real estate expenses he incurred incident to his transfer. IRS had held that the claimant was not entitled to reimbursement for: (1) closing and mortgage fees associated with his purchase of a new home, since purchasers in that area did not customarily pay such fees; and (2) his application delivery fee, since regulations did not permit reimbursement for that expense. In his appeal, the claimant contended that: (1) purchasers in the area customarily paid the mortgage and closing fees; and (2) the limited processing time necessitated the quickest possible delivery of his loan application. GAO held that the claimant was: (1) not entitled to reimbursement for the closing fee, since he failed to show that purchasers in the area customarily paid the fee; (2) entitled to reimbursement for the mortgage fee, since it related to additional work required for documentation; and (3) not entitled to reimbursement for the delivery fee, since delivery was not required. Accordingly, the claim was allowed in part and denied in part.