Source: http://govpulse.us/entries/2011/06/06/2011-13356/federal-travel-regulation-temporary-duty-tdy-travel-allowances-taxes-relocation-allowances-taxes-
Timestamp: 2014-07-29 10:44:57
Document Index: 224745906

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 302', 'art 302', '§ 302', 'art 302', '§ 302', 'art 302', '§ 302', 'art 301', 'art 301', '§ 302', '§ 302', 'art 302', 'arts 301', 'art 301']

govpulse | Federal Travel Regulation; Temporary Duty (TDY) Travel Allowances (Taxes); Relocation Allowances (Taxes)
Table to § 302-17.8—FTR Allowances and Federal Income Tax Treatments
•Regulations.gov: http://www.regulations.gov.
•Fax:202-501-4067.
•Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 First Street, NE., Room 783E, ATTN: Hada Flowers, Washington, DC 20417.
A. Request for Input on the Final Effective Date ↑
The GSA Office of Governmentwide Policy seeks to incorporate best practices from Federal agencies and the private sector into the policies that GSA issues. To this end, GSA created the GRAB, consisting of Government and private industry relocation experts, to examine Government relocation policy. The GRAB was chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act on July 9, 2004, and it submitted its “Findings and Recommendations” on September 15, 2005. The GRAB “Findings and Recommendations” and corresponding documents may be accessed at GSA's Web site at http://www.gsa.gov/grab. The GRAB made a number of recommendations with regard to taxes, and GSA has developed this proposed rule in response to those recommendations.
• “Substantially all”—Federal agencies are required by 5 U.S.C. 5724b to reimburse “substantially all” of the additional income taxes incurred by employees as a result of relocation and to reimburse “all” of the taxes imposed on any reimbursement for taxes.
• Fair and equitable—In personnel matters, the Government seeks to treat all employees fairly and equitably. A key piece of this is transparency. Everyone must be able to see and understand how the benefits are being computed. Another key piece is seekingto treat all civilian transferees equally, regardless of grade level.
• Relative simplicity—The tax process is necessarily complex because relocation has so many parts. However, it is important to keep this process as simple as possible, so that agencies can and will perform all of the calculations accurately, so that employees can verify the calculations, and so that employees will be more likely to believe that they are being treated fairly and equitably.
• Minimizing cost—It is, of course, very important to balance the three objectives above against the overall cost of reimbursing employees for the taxes that they incur. It is important, therefore, to seek to limit reimbursement to “substantially all” of each transferee's tax liability, to the extent that this can be done without making the process overly complex.
C. Major Changes in This Proposed Rule ↑
Fraudulent claims—The existing part 302-17 includes a paragraph, at § 302-17.10(c), about fraudulent claims made against the United States, especially in the context of the “Statement of Income and Tax Filing Status.” The statutes on fraudulent claims remain in effect and unchanged. However, these statutes apply to the entire relocation process, not just reimbursement for taxes on relocation expenses, and GSA therefore has added a new section to FTR part 302-2 to address fraudulent claims made at any point during the relocation reimbursement process. This new section directly mirrors section 301-52.12 covering fraudulent claims with regards to TDY benefits.
Correcting the withholding rate for supplemental wages—The withholding rate of 28 percent for supplemental wages used in the current FTR 301-11, subpart F and 302-17.7 is incorrect. The correct rate is 25 percent, and this is the rate used in this proposed rule, at § 302-17.24. This rate is scheduled to revert to 28 percent on January 1, 2011, absent legislative action. If and when this rate changes, GSA will correct the new part 302-17 to reflect the change.
Eliminating the Government-unique tax tables—Moving to taxable income will also make it unnecessary for GSA to publish special tax tables each year. Transferees and agencies will be able to use the tables published by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and state and local tax authorities.
Failure to file the “Statement of Income and Tax Filing Status” in a timely manner—The existing § 302-17.7(e)(2) makes the entire WTA an excess payment if the employee fails to file the statement or the RITA claim in a timely manner. Because the WTA is an advance payment on the employee's reimbursable income tax expenses, agencies are entitled to recover it if an employee fails to properly document their income taxes. Therefore, this proposed rule continues these requirements on the employee and the agency, except in the case of an employee who declines the WTA. In this case, if the employee fails to file the “Statement of Income and Tax Filing Status” and/or the RITA claim in a timely manner, this proposed rule allows the agency to close the file without paying the RITA. See new sections 302-17.53, 302-17.65, and 302-17.102.
D. Changes to the Current FTR ↑
• Deletes part 301-11, subpart E.
• Replaces part 301-11, subpart F in its entirety.
• Adds new § 302-2.7.
• Replaces one sentence in § 302-3.502(b).
• Replaces part 302-17 in its entirety.
E. Executive Order 12866 and Executive Order 13563 ↑
F. Regulatory Flexibility Act ↑
G. Paperwork Reduction Act ↑
H. Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act ↑
List of subjects in 41 cfr parts 301-11, 302-2, 302-3, and 302-17 ↑
Government employees, Travel and transportation expenses, Income taxes.
Part 301-11—per diem expenses ↑