Dr. Dietrich A. Volmer

B-261440 Sep 09, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Certification of payment is disallowed for currency exchange losses. Handling charges incurred by an individual on official government travel within the United States involving the use of his personal credit card issued by a foreign bank since the use of such a card is a matter of personal convenience and not directly related to official travel. Whether the loss is incurred in a foreign country or in the United States. DECISION This advance decision is made at the request of Wayne S. Volmer was a postdoctoral fellow appointed under the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) program of the Public Health Service. Volmer and another colleague were assigned to temporary duty in Los Angeles. View Decision Matter of: Dr. Dietrich A. Volmer File: B-261440 Date: September 9, 1996 Certification of payment is disallowed for currency exchange losses, fees, and handling charges incurred by an individual on official government travel within the United States involving the use of his personal credit card issued by a foreign bank since the use of such a card is a matter of personal convenience and not directly related to official travel. Additionally, as a general rule, the risk of incurring an exchange loss upon converting currency for the purpose of official travel lies with the individual, whether the loss is incurred in a foreign country or in the United States. DECISION This advance decision is made at the request of Wayne S. Bladen, an authorized certifying officer, Office of Financial Management, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, to determine whether he may certify for payment of certain expenses resulting from the use of a private credit card incurred by a nongovernment employee, Dr. Dietrich A. Volmer, pursuant to officially authorized travel to his temporary duty station in Los Angeles, California, from February 27, 1995, through March 25, 1995. Dr. Volmer was a postdoctoral fellow appointed under the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) program of the Public Health Service, Department of Health & Human Services. As a nongovernment employee, agency policy determined that he could not be issued a U.S. government credit card. Otherwise, the ORISE travel policy explicitly provided that travel benefits to these nongovernment employees would be comparable to those of government employees BACKGROUND From February 27, 1995, through March 25, 1995, Dr. Volmer and another colleague were assigned to temporary duty in Los Angeles, California, from their permanent duty station in Arkansas. Dr. Volmer chose to rent an apartment in Marina del Rey during this period, rather than stay in a hotel. Since Dr. Volmer was not authorized a government credit card, he applied for a cash advance. Although the advance was promised him on Friday, February 24, just prior to his departure, it was not available at that time. Consequently, he indicates he could not deposit it into his bank until Wednesday, February 28, 1 day after his arrival in California. Dr. Volmer states he did not have enough cash on hand to prepay the apartment where he chose to reside during his temporary duty assignment, and the apartment managers insisted on 1 month's prepayment of $2,350 for stays lasting less than 1 month, as was the case here. Dr. Volmer states that since the existing credit limit on his Visa card, apparently drawn on a U.S. bank, was not enough to handle this expense, he decided to charge the amount to his German Mastercard. In addition to the amount charged, the German bank issuing the Mastercard added a 1% fee for payments in currencies other than marks (in this case, U.S. dollars) and handling charges. Dr. Volmer also incurred currency losses due to the fact that the German mark exchange rate increased from 1.38 to almost 1.47 to the U.S. dollar in the short interval between the time the charge was made and Dr. Volmer sent in his credit card payment. As a result, Dr. Volmer incurred additional costs of $180.75 for fees, handling charges, and exchange rate losses as a result of using his German Mastercard while on temporary duty in Los Angeles. The authorized certifying officer requests an advance decision concerning the propriety of this payment. ANALYSIS Under Section 5706 of Title 5, United States Code, only actual and necessary expenses incurred by government employees traveling on official business away from their duty stations may be allowed. Implementing the statute, the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) (41 C.F.R. Part 301-9) further authorizes the payment of certain miscellaneous expenses which may be incurred by employees in the performance of their duty. For example, allowable miscellaneous expenses may include the cost of travelers checks purchased in connection with an employee's official travel. (41 C.F.R. sec.