[Entitlement to Real Estate and Transportation of Household Goods Expenses]

A decision was requested concerning an Internal Revenue Service employee's entitlement to reimbursement for certain relocation expenses. The employee incurred advertising expenses when he attempted to sell several acres of land at his old duty station without the assistance of a real estate agent. Because he was unsuccessful, he listed the property with an agent who divided the property into two parts which were sold to two separate buyers. The employee was not reimbursed his personal advertising expenses or for real estate expenses incurred in selling the land which did not contain his residence. He disputed the disallowance of both items. In addition, he disputed the computation of the charge assessed for excess household goods weight, and he also submitted a claim for damaged property. An employee is only allowed reimbursement of real estate sales expenses incurred in connection with land that reasonably relates to his residence site. Furthermore, where an employee is reimbursed a broker's fee or real estate commission that includes advertising costs in connection with the sale of his residence, there is no basis upon which additional advertising costs may be allowed. Therefore, GAO sustained the agency's decision not to reimburse those real estate sales expenses. After an analysis of both the employee's and the agency's computations of household goods transportation costs, GAO found that both of their computation methods were in error. Furthermore, in situations where the government is not responsible for loss or damage, employees must seek redress from the carrier who caused the loss. Accordingly, GAO found that the employee was not entitled to the expense of advertising the sale of his residence, real estate expenses related to the sale of a parcel of land which did not contain his residence, or damages. However, the amount the agency charged the employee for the transportation of household goods should be adjusted to meet the GAO computation, and the recovery of the correct additional shipping costs should be sought from the employee.