Posted on 03/02/2010 5:26:19 AM PST by reaganaut1
My husband had a government cc and had to turn in receipts for it’s use or anything he spent of our money to justify his travel expenses. No receipt no no allowance and no reimbursement and they would not have reimbursed vases, rugs or paintings.
Sounds like Minnesota. We have one portly little legislator who leads all here in per diem and live about 2 miles from our state capitol.
(democrap, naturally)
Interesting, when I was in the AF, we were rarely, if ever paid our per diem up front. You could get an advance on your “expected” per diem, up to 80% iirc. Never lodging. You had to provide receipts for lodging, rental car, rental car fuel and anything over $75 that was an approved expense.
Upon your return, you then had to file a travel voucher that showed all of your required expenses, minus meals. Your final per diem amount was then calculated against that voucher. If you had taken an advance and were under, you got the difference, if not, you paid the gov’t back.
Many chose not to take the advance, lower ranks usually did because they didn’t normally have that kind of money.
Why is it so hard for these fools who enacted those rules I just mentioned to follow the same ones?
I know, because they’re “special”.
Now this is a man who belongs in the US Senate.
When the cost of a business class ticket is $10k or more, $80-$100 in perdiem isn’t a whole lot. Sometimes that is barely enough for a meal at the hotel.
-———————————————————————>
Said to “Background Music” of Cry Me A River!
Neither do they have any business travelling anywhere in this country except between their district (notice I did NOT say "home" and Washington, D.C.)
These people think they are royalty and that things (including travel) are owed to them.
I have to plan trips to the grocery store.
Screw these elitists!
Sounds like you don’t get out much.
Per Diem is not considered income by the IRS as long as it is documented properly. I work on serval federal projects overseas, it has never been counted as income. The purpose of Per Diem is so that the IRS doesn’t spend money auditing expense reports.
I agree. I have been to some countries where I can eat off the entire week what the Per Diem is for a day. It is GSA who sets foreign Per diem.
If you have actuals in you contract, you have to submit receipts. Per Diem doesn’t require receipts that’s the whole idea behind it.
That’s effed up. According to GSA rules you either go actuals or per diem. I think you got ripped off.
I must admit, your reply caught me off guard, I had forgotten I had even posted this. Lol.
In re-reading my post, I note that I failed to disclose that my experiences were from the ‘80s-’90s. So things may have changed dramatically since then.
The credit cards they issued helped with the expense issues quite a bit as there was no longer a “fronting” of expenses and then seeking reimbursement.
FRegards,
SZ
Having to keep up with receipts on a long overseas trip is a pain.
Yes it is. Fortunately, the rules have been relaxed to where you are just required to provide a few of the “heavy hitters”, lodging, airfare, rental car, shuttle, etc..
After my first AF TDY where I didn’t get fully reimbursed due to a missing receipt, I started taking a zip bag with me on all my trips. Every receipt went into that bag and I would sort them out when I got back.
I still do the same on company travel. I just never know when I’m going to get audited and this way, I can show the bean counters where just about every nickel went. I keep them for about 2 years and then shred them along with the expense reports.
Overkill, yeah, but I figured it was the best way.
In Lagos breakfast was $75. Just breakfast.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.