Claim for Car Rental on Temporary Duty

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requested an advance decision on whether an employee may be reimbursed for the rental and associated expenses of an automobile used to travel to and from a temporary duty assignment. The employee based his claim for the higher cost of the car rental expenses on the fact that he used the vehicle to transport groceries in order to adhere to kosher dietary laws. According to the employee, his religion required that he maintain a strict kosher diet, and there were only two kosher restaurants in the area of the temporary duty site. Since neither restaurant was in close proximity to the employee's hotel, he decided to rent a car and transport groceries from his home in order to prepare meals while at his temporary duty site. In justification of his claim for transportation expenses, the employee furnished a computation indicating that his method of transportation had saved the Government over $140 in comparison to what local transportation costs would have been had he traveled to the restaurants. GAO stated that, according to Federal regulations, if a restaurant, cafeteria, or other facility at or near the temporary duty site offers meals that are adequate to the needs of most employees, the standard of suitability is met and an employee who prefers or requires different meals is not entitled to transportation expenses for the purposes of accommodating his particular dietary needs. Because the use of a rental car was not authorized, and for the aforementioned reason, GAO concluded that IRS correctly limited the employee's reimbursement for travel to and from the temporary duty site to the lower cost of common carrier transportation.