Issue^ Miscellaneous Expens Allowance e

Miscellaneous Expense Allowance Issue^

|ag§J: Miscellaneous Expense Allowance

£?Z<L2- Dependent Parents-Travel and Overseas Allow!

= g ? N o n . T e m p o r a i y ^

f 3 S £ l & 4 : Understands

«erv,ce Computation Dates

The Department of S ta te Standardized Regulations (DSSR) and the Jo in t

Travel Regulations (JTR) , Volume 2, authorizes a miscellaneous expense allow­

ance (MEA) to reimburse various costs in connection with a permanent change

of station (PCS) residence relocation. Section 240 of the DSSR authorizes

M E A fo r new appointees performing f i r s t duty station travel to a foreign

post. Chapter 5, Part G, of the J T R authorizes reimbursement f o r M E A fo r

employees t ransferr ing on permanent change of station (PCS) or Temporary Change of Stat ion

(TCS) travel. The MEA fo r employees transferr ing are claimed on the "Travel Voucher or Subvouch-

er," DD Form 1351-2. Reimbursement fo r M E A for new appointees on f i r s t duty station travel to a

foreign post are claimed on the "Foreign Allowances Application, Grant and Report," SF-1190.

Employees may elect to claim a f la t amount at the current rate of ei ther $650 (without dependents)

or $1,300 (with dependents) f o r allowable miscellaneous expenses without receipts or itemized

statements. The authorizing of f ic ia l may approve a higher amount in excess of the f la t rate if the

claim is supported by evidence of expenses incurred and the total amount does not exceed:

> 1 week's salary if the employee is without dependents or 1 week's salary for an employee at GS-13,

step 10, whichever is the lesser amount, or

> 2 weeks' salary if the employee is with dependents or 2 weeks' salary for an employee at GS-13,

step 10, whichever is the lesser amount.

Examples of reimbursable costs include:

> Disconnecting/connecting appliances, equipment and util i t ies involved in relocation, and converting

appliances fo r operation on available uti l i t ies (this does not include purchasing appliances or equip­

ment in lieu of conversion);

> Cutting and f i t t ing rugs, draperies and curtains moved f rom one residence to another;

> Non-refundable util ity fees/depos i ts ;

> Automobile registration and driver's license;

> Shipment and/or required quarantine of pet(s); and

> Rental agent's fee incurred fo r living quarters in a foreign area that are not o f f se t by an eventual

refund provided the fees were not authorized as an allowable living quarters allowance expense.

For more information, contact the HQ HR Travel and Allowance Branch at (571) 372-0581.

Dependent Parents of the Employee, Employee's Spouse or Same Sex Domestic

Partner For Purposes of Travel and Overseas Allowances

Paren ts o f t h e employee, employee's spouse or same s e x domest i c pa r t ne r may be cons idered

dependents f o r permanent du ty t r ave l e l ig ib i l i t y i f t hey a r e res id ing as members o f t h e e m ­

ployee's household when t h e employee r e p o r t s f o r du ty a t t h e new du ty s ta t i on or p e r f o r m s

a u t h o r i z e d renewal agreement or separa t ion t rave l . I n add i t i on , t h e parent must rece ive 51

pe rcen t o f t he i r suppor t f r o m t h e employee, employee's spouse, or same s e x domes t i c par tner .

They may also be cons ide red dependen ts i f t h e y a re members o f t h e employee's household

and , in add i t ion to t h e i r own income, rece i ve suppor t ( less than 51 pe rcen t ) f r o m t h e employee,

employee's spouse or same s e x domes t i c pa r tne r wi thout which t hey would be unable to main­

ta in a reasonab le s tanda rd o f l iving.

Fo r overseas a l lowances, paren ts o f t h e employee, employee's spouse or same s e x domest ic

pa r tne r must be res id ing w i th t h e employee at h i s / h e r overseas post and be a t least 51

pe rcen t dependent on t h e employee f o r suppor t . Fo r purposes o f t r ave l and overseas al low­

ances , t h e dependency c r i t e r i a f o r a parent a r e not based on medical needs o f t h e parent .

R a t h e r i t is based on monetary suppor t and t h e f a c t t ha t t h e parent r es i des w i th t h e

employee as a member o f t h e employee's household.

A n employee's reques t to es tab l i sh a parent as a dependent f o r t rave l and al lowances must be

accompanied by documenta t ion to suppor t t h e re la t ionship and documenta t ion to suppor t t h e

res idence of t h e parent . I n add i t i on , a s e p a r a t e s igned s ta temen t is requ i red f r o m t h e

employee out l in ing t h e parent 's annual income f r o m all sources ; t h e parent 's annual personal

and household expenses and what por t ion o f t h o s e expenses a r e paid by t h e employee.

Fo r more in fo rmat ion , con tac t t h e HQ HR Travel and Allowance Branch a t (571) 3 7 2 - 0 5 8 1 .

Withdrawal f rom Non-Temporary Storage (NTS)

Employees should immediate ly no t i f y D L A Human Resources

D o D E A Team of t h e i r w i thdrawal o f household (HHG) f r o m ^KKSBtKKUs^BM N T S to ensure t h e i r government expense c i ta t ion is t e rm ina t ­

ed in a t ime ly fash ion . Human Resources needs to complete a te rm ina t ion l e t t e r to send to t h e

app rop r ia te s to rage company when employees remove t h e i r household goods f r o m N T S . Th i s

ensures t h a t t h e government is not paying f o r s to rage t ha t is no longer needed by an

employee.

N o t i f i c a t i o n can be accompl ished by e i t h e r cal l ing, f ax i ng , or emai l ing Human Resources a t t h e

fo l lowing numbers: Phone: (614) 6 9 2 - 2 2 2 5 , D S N : 8 5 0 - 2 2 2 5 ; Fax : (614) 6 9 3 - 1 6 7 7 ,

D S N : 8 6 9 - 1 6 7 7 ; a n d / o r e-mai l : D H R C - D D o D E A H R @ d l a . m i l

Volume 2, Issue 2 Page 2

Understanding Service Computation bates

A Service Computation Date, or S C D , is a date, ei ther actual or constructed, used to determine

how much service is creditable toward eligibil ity f o r a specif ic benefi t or entitlement. The SCD is

based on amounts of Federal service or how long an individual has been in Federal service. Service

that counts in the construction of an SCD is called "creditable service" and is based on amounts of

Federal service or how long an individual has been in Federal Service.

SCDs do not necessarily re f lec t a specif ic date when something happened. Instead, SCDs estab­

lish a "vir tual" start ing date fo r continuous creditable service. Creditable service is Federal

Government employment (civilian or uniformed service) that meets specif ic requirements fo r a

particular type of benefit. I f there are several separate periods of previous service, they are

added together. The total years, months, and days of previous service are then used in the SCD

calculation. Knowing that an employee has continuous creditable service since a speci f ic date

makes eligibil i ty determinations much simpler.

Most employees are familiar with the SCD shown on their SF 50, Not i f icat ion of Personnel Action.

Currently found in block 31, so the S F - 5 0 , this is your SCD (Leave), which re f lec ts service that is

credi table fo r leave accrual purposes only. However, this is not the only SCD an individual has but

it is of tent imes confused as being the same SCD used fo r determining retirement eligibil ity.

SCDs can all be the same for one person, but they could also be completely d i f fe rent .

You could have service that is creditable fo r leave and TSP, but not fo r ret i rement, so your SCDs

for those purposes would be d i f ferent .

Other SCDs used by the government include:

> S C D Leave - This SCD determines an employee's rate for leave accrual purposes.

> S C D Retirement - This SCD ref lec ts service that is creditable toward your eligibil i ty to

ret i re.

> S C D T S P - I f you are covered by the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) , you have

an SCD TSP. I t ref lects the service that counts toward entitlement to keep the government's

automatic 1 percent contribution to your T h r i f t Savings Plan (TSP) account.

> S C D R IF - This SCD ref lects service that is creditable toward your standing on reduction-in-

fo rce (RIF) l ists. A RIF might be conducted if your agency needed to reduce the number of

employees on its rolls.

> S C D Civilian - this SCD contains all Federal civilian service

I t is important fo r employees to be aware that when it comes to calculating a service computation

date, not all Federal service is t reated the same. Here are some examples of d i f fe ren t types of

Federal service that may be creditable d i f fe rent ly depending on which SCD calculation is being

performed:

««<Continued on Page 4»»>

Volume 2, Issue 2 Page 3

Understanding Service Computation bates con't.

> Per iods of absence, such as leave w i thout pay (to include non-pay s ta tus ) or b reaks in

se rv i ce . I f t ime in non-pay s ta tus was more than 6 months to ta l in t h e calendar year

service computat ion da tes f o r leave accrual, r educ t i on in f o r c e , and re t i r emen t must be

ad jus ted to reflect t ime in e x c e s s o f 6 months in one ca lendar year .

> Congressional se rv i ce .

> Peace Corps or V I S T A vo lunteer se rv i ce .

> Per iods of s e r v i c e where r e t i r emen t con t r ibu t ions were r e f unded .

> M i l i t a r y se rv i ce .

> Seasonal work, summer j obs and casual post o f f i c e employment.

> Deta i l s to in ternat ional organ izat ions.

> W o r k f o r t h e D i s t r i c t of Columbia.

> S e r v i c e as a Nat iona l Guard techn ic ian .

> S e r v i c e under a d i f f e r e n t r e t i r emen t sys tem.

A l s o , t h e ru les f o r se rv i ce c r e d i t have changed over t h e yea rs ; t h e r e f o r e depending upon

when t h e s e r v i c e was p e r f o r m e d d i f f e r e n t c red i t i ng ru les may apply. T h i s is why ind iv idu­

als must begin to plan ear ly and seek in fo rmat ion regard ing re t i r emen t e l ig ib i l i ty . Employ­

ees do not see t h e i r r e t i r emen t S C D and i t is only v e r i f i e d when an ac t ion reques ts is

gene ra ted t ha t requ i res the agency to v e r i f y r e t i r e m e n t e l ig ib i l i ty or c e r t i f i e d F e d e r a l

s e r v i c e f o r t h e purposes of rece iv ing a s p e c i f i c r e t i r e m e n t r e l a ted bene f i t .

Employees who have quest ions regard ing t h e i r S e r v i c e Computat ion Da te f o r r e t i r e m e n t

purposes should con tac t t he i r local Human Resources Represen ta t i ve or e-mai l t h e bobEA

HQ Benefits Unit a t Bene f i t [email protected].

A l l o the r S C D inquir ies should be d i r e c t e d to your local Human Resources Rep resen ta t i ve

o r t he i r serv ic ing Cus tomer Opera t i ons Team.

The information provided is this news letter is gathered from sources which are thought to be reliable and is intended as a useful resource and convenience to the reader. Such use is strictly voluntary and does not constitute an official endorsement or approval by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) of any product or service. DoDEA does not assume any responsibility for errors and all information is subject to change without notice.

Please note :

Volume 2 Issue 2 Page 4