Request for Reimbursement of Miscellaneous Expenses

A transferred employee of the Internal Revenue Service requested reconsideration of the determination that disallowed reimbursement of certain items included in his claim for miscellaneous expense allowance. The specific items included: the installation of a water line to an ice maker in the refrigerator, the installation of a gas line to and vent from a clothes dryer, and the acquisition of a comparable level of telephone service in the employee's residence at his new duty station. The agency disallowed the employee's claim for inclusion of all of the items in his miscellaneous expense allowance on the basis of various GAO decisions which had disallowed such costs. The Claims Division sustained the disallowance on the same basis. The employee then requested reconsideration of the entire matter. A study of the prior decisions on which the disallowance in this case was based concluded that those decisions unnecessarily focused on the exclusionary language contained in one section of the Federal Travel Regulations rather than on the allowable items as stated in another section. The apparent distinction in the language of the two sections depends on whether an appliance installation or connection involves structural alteration. GAO did not consider that the employee had structurally altered his new duty residence by having a few holes drilled in the walls and the floor to connect his refrigerator and dryer. Accordingly, GAO held that the employee could be reimbursed for the costs associated with connecting the refrigerator and the dryer. Additionally, the employee could be reimbursed for the cost of having a telephone jack installed in his new residence since the employee had a similar service at his old duty station. GAO further held that prior decisions which disallowed connection costs of appliances would no longer be followed; however, it cautioned that certifying and disbursing officers should apply this decision to cases in which the expense for connecting appliances has been incurred on or after the date of this decision.