Reimbursement for Selling Residence Incident To Change of Duty Station

An advance decision was requested concerning the reimbursement of expenses incurred by an employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) when he sold his residence at his "old official station" incident to his permanent change of duty station. The employee worked at the Alexandria, Virginia, office and was reassigned to FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. for a 14-week period of training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, where he received Government-furnished quarters. After the completion of his training, the employee was transferred from Washington Headquarters to the Baltimore Field Office. GAO held that the employee may be reimbursed for the expense incurred when he sold his residence in Alexandria, Virginia, because: (1) his "old official station" was Alexandria, Virginia; (2) his assignment to Washington Headquarters was an intermediate change of station; and (3) Washington was designated a duty station for administrative purposes only during the training period. His "permanent change of station" was between Alexandria and Baltimore for the purpose of determining entitlement to residence selling expenses.