TRAVEL MANAGEMENT POLICY
PURPOSE
The purpose of this policy is to ensure that travel approvals are obtained and actual expenses related to travel are submitted according to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson’s) policy and guidelines in order to be reimbursed in an efficient and timely manner.
POLICY STATEMENT
It is the policy of MD Anderson to reimburse employees for actual travel and related expenses according to institutional and State requirements.
SCOPE
The policy applies to all employees, faculty, and official guests of MD Anderson.
Compliance with this policy is the responsibility of all faculty, trainees/students, and other members of MD Anderson’s workforce.
TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience for this policy includes, but is not limited to, employees, faculty, and official guests of MD Anderson.
DEFINITIONS
Airfare: Describes rules and procedures for coordinating airfare for business travel. Car Rental: Describes procedures for coordinating rental reservations.
Ground Transportation: Describes reimbursement rules and procedures when utilizing ground transportation (ex. taxi, shuttle) for business travel.
Lodging: Describes allowable lodging and expenses while on business travel. Meals: Describes allowable expenses for meals while on business travel.
Mileage: Outlines reimbursement rates and rules for mileage during business travel.
Registration Fees: Identifies how to pay for business conference/meeting/seminar fees.
Travel to Washington D.C.: Describes rules and procedures for coordinating business travel to the area.
PROCEDURE
1.0 Authorization
1.1 Official business travel expenses are reimbursable; however, travel advances are not allowed. 1.2 All business travel arrangements are to be made through the institution's designated travel
agency or agencies. Airline tickets purchased using the Business Travel Account (BTA) requires fund approval prior to travel and may not be used for personal travel.
1.3 Travel Management Services is responsible for applying the laws, regulations, institutional policies, and institutional procedures regarding travel reimbursements. Reimbursement applies to employee expenditures only.
1.4 The Official Approving Travel or the Official Approving Funds (or their designee) is responsible for reviewing travel expenditures and approving them with regards to departmental rules and procedures, and as pertaining to the appropriateness of the given employee travel. The fund approvers assure that they have given permission for the use of the indicated funds for the travel.
2.0 Foreign Travel Approval
2.1 Foreign travel is defined as any travel outside the United States, its possessions, Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico on most fund sources. Travel to Mexico on grant funds (Co9) is considered foreign travel and must be approved in advance by Grants and Contracts Accounting.
2.2 All foreign travel must receive appropriate Executive Vice President approval in advance of any foreign travel transportation reservations, lodging reservations, or conference registrations. Requests for EVP approval of foreign travel must be in writing or via ETO and include justification of the business necessity of the foreign travel.
2.3 The Office of the Chancellor or designee must approve foreign travel in excess of 29 days. 2.4 Foreign travel is not allowed on Education and General (E&G) funds (Company 1), Auxiliary
Enterprise funds (Company 7), or Plant Funds (Company P).
2.5 Cruise travel for any purpose will not be approved or reimbursed. Additionally, continuing medical education programs that entail recreational activity as a significant component will not be approved or reimbursed.
3.0 General Reimbursement
3.1 Actual expenses incurred and accompanied by original receipts are the basis for travel reimbursement.
3.3 The Traveler (Claimant) also attests to having used State contracted fares and rates when appropriate to do so.
3.4 For in-city travel, reimbursement for registration, parking, tolls, and mileage are allowed. Expenses incurred prior to the beginning of or after the conclusion of official business are not reimbursable. Employees should check with their Department Administrator or Department Head as to when official business begins and ends.
3.5 Travel Management Services will reimburse the maximum amount requested and payable according to MD Anderson travel policy and guidelines, based on the source of funds indicated and any restrictions noted on the request form.
3.6 The form is online in the Lotus Notes ETO (Employee Travel Online) database.
A. To download the ETO database: Open R5 Database Catalog, select ETOv2, then add icon to workspace.
3.7 Travel to Washington D.C. All travel to the Washington D.C. area requires that the traveler register with OSFR (Office of State-Federal Relations) prior to traveling. This applies to employees traveling specifically into Washington National, Washington Dulles, or Baltimore airports.
Examples of travel that require prior notification are: A. Professional meetings and training.
B. Meetings with federal agencies.
C. Meetings with Congress, members of Congress or their staff. D. Testimony to Congress.
E. Travel where expenses are reimbursed by non-state agencies (e.g., NIH, NSF).
3.8 These requirements are in force regardless of the source of funds used. Travel forms may be completed electronically at: http://www.osfr.state.tx.us/. MD Anderson's three-digit agency code is 506.
3.9 Mileage
A. The State of Texas personal car mileage reimbursement rate is currently $0.445/mile. B. Employees are discouraged from using their personal car for business travel. If a
personal car is used, the lesser of State air fare or mileage rate is reimbursed. C. Additional car expenses (such as gas and repairs) are not reimbursable.
D. State employees may calculate the number of miles traveled by using their vehicle odometer reading or MapQuest.
3.10 Registration fees
B. Reimbursement of registration expenses paid by personal check or credit card must include proof of form of payment and be submitted after travel is complete.
3.11 Airfare
A. The Mastercard Business Travel Account (BTA) is a central billing account designed for the charging of business airfare only through our contracted travel agency. Use of the BTA eliminates the need to use a traveler's personal credit card. BTA may be used for employees, visiting lecturers, recruits, conference attendees, grant reviews, and guests. BTA cannot be used if travel is reimbursed outside MD Anderson or for consultants/contractors or personal travel.
B. Business Class Travel is permitted for travel to Hawaii or foreign destinations with non-stop flight time of 5 hours or more. Contact Navigant @713-745-9500 for booking assistance.
C. Coach Class Travel is provided for flights that do not meet this restriction. Travelers may upgrade using personal frequent flyer miles if he/she wishes to do so as long as MD Anderson funds are not used to accomplish the upgrade.
3.12 The following BTA procedure must be followed:
A. Contact Navigant International Travel Agency to make airline reservations for the approved travel, advising the travel agency that BTA will be used. The agency will make reservations and provide pricing, but cannot issue a ticket until they receive BTA authorization from your department.
B. Employees should complete ETO BTA request:
C. For reimbursement, BTA air tickets should be submitted with the request for the trip even though the BTA portion is not reimburseable.
D. Non-employees: Guest Speakers should complete a Visiting Lecturer Request form and fax to Navigant International at 713-745-5350.
3.13 Lodging
A. Lodging is reimbursed for travel of 50 miles or more from MD Anderson.
B. Original hotel receipts in the traveler's name should be submitted with the travel reimbursement so that the hotel expenses, hotel taxes, meals, and miscellaneous items can be properly accounted for per State of Texas requirements.
C. Hotel expenses of $300.00/night or more are reviewed by Travel Management services. The traveler will be required to provide justification, and higher level of approval will be required prior to reimbursement.
3.14 Meals
A. Meals are only reimbursed with an overnight stay. B. Any meal claimed greater than $25 must have a receipt.
C. Meals are reimbursed up to the maximum amounts defined in the Travel Policies Reimbursement Guidelinesfor breakfast, lunch and dinner.
D. Gratuities greater than 20% will be disallowed.
E. Alcoholic beverages are not reimbursable as part of travel meal expenses. 3.15 Car Rental
A. Contact Navigant for your car rental reservations:
B. Rental car rates for March 31, 2004 through December 31, 2006 for the companies below are listed on State Travel Management Program’s (STMP) web page at: http://cpa.state.tx.us/procurement/prog/stmp/.
ADVANTAGE RENT-A-CAR. AVIS RENT A CAR SYSTEM, INC. ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR.
C. Reimbursement for car rental expenses including gas requires an original receipt. 3.16 Ground Transportation
A. Original receipts are required for reimbursement, including parking and tolls. If original receipts are not available, copies with an explanation and original signature will be allowed.
B. Taxi service to and from the Houston airports (Bush Intercontinental Airport and Hobby Airport) will be reimbursed in the following amounts without receipt:
$30 one-way ($60 round trip) to/from Hobby. $40 one-way ($80 round trip) to/from IAH.
C. Full reimbursement of actual expenses is allowed with receipts. Taxi fares to restaurants are reimbursable on Cos 3, 4, 7, and 8. They are not reimbursable on Cos 1, 9 or P. D. Attending meetings in-city or dining in local restaurants does not qualify for taxi
reimbursement.
4.0 Miscellaneous Expenses
Reimbursement of Miscellaneous expenses include: 4.1 Internet Access.
4.2 Phone Calls. 4.3 Fax Charges. 4.4 Parking and Tolls. 5.0 Reimbursement Guidelines
Refer to the following links for expenditure guidelines: 5.1 E&G, CO 1 GUIDELINES.
5.2 COMPANY 3 & 8 EXPENDITURE GUIDELINES. 5.3 COMPANY CENTER 4 EXPENDITURE GUIDELINES. 5.4 COMPANY 7 EXPENDITURE GUIDELINES.
5.5 COMPANY CENTER 9 EXPENDITURE GUIDELINES. 5.6 CO P EXPENDITURE GUIDELINES.
6.0 Visiting Lecturers
6.1 The Visiting Lecturer Request form is used to inform Administration and Academic Affairs of a department's intention to invite individuals to lecture or to review the work of the inviting faculty member, regardless of whether or not the visiting guest will receive an honorarium payment. A. Visiting lecturers are not consultants, nor are they individuals being recruited for
employment.
B. The Visiting Lecturer form cannot be used when a trainer leads a seminar at MD Anderson when the individual (or firm) is a business engaged in training. This is a consultant.
C. If you are in doubt, please call Gwen Hurst in Travel Management Services, at 5-9444. 6.2 Requests submitted on the wrong form will be returned. Incomplete Visiting Lecturer Requests
will be returned as well.
6.3 The completed Visiting Lecturer form should be sent to Accounts Payable at Unit 199 where it will be reviewed for compliance to MD Anderson administrative regulations.
A. The Visiting Lecturer form may be found at Inside MD Anderson Online Forms -SmartWorks. The form name is “Consulting Lecturers Form” number 602090.
6.4 Administration and Academic Affairs must approve all Visiting Lecturer Requests prior to a Lecturer's visit.
6.5 Check requests for expense reimbursements must be submitted after the visit is complete. A completed and signed W-9 and original receipts should accompany the check request. Check requests for honorariums may accompany the Visiting Lecturer Request form; in this way, the Lecturer may receive their honorarium at the conclusion of their lecture or review.
6.6 Unless there are restrictions imposed by the awarding agency, reimbursements are processed in conformity with the instructions from the individual authorized to use the funds.
6.7 If a BTA airline ticket is desired, a completed Visiting Lecturer Request form must be faxed to Navigant for processing of the BTA @ 5-5350.
6.8 Payments to non-resident aliens are subject to withholding tax in accordance with current tax law. Contact Payroll Services for questions in this regard.
6.9 Honoraria (Per PRS guidelines issued September, 2004): A. Limited to $1,000 per visit.
B. Up to $1,500 per visit for exceptional speakers or events.
C. Amounts above $1,000 require the President’s or his designee’s prior approval. 6.10 Official Guests and Visiting Lecturers
Payments to Non Resident Alien Visitors:
A. This policy covers payments made to Non Resident Alien (NRA) visitors at MD Anderson who come as Visiting Lecturers, to lecture, attend Grand Rounds, review research, and other brief endeavors of an academic nature.
B. The inviting department must complete a Visiting Lecturer Request (VLR) form prior to the visit. Sufficient time must be allowed for processing or the honorarium check will not be available during the lecturer’s visit.
C. In those cases where travel reimbursement is requested, the department should obtain original receipts to support the reimbursement request. Expense reimbursements unsupported by receipts are limited to $75 per visit. In those cases where an honorarium is requested, the department should obtain a legible copy of the passport (picture page and all pages containing the visa stamps) and IRS form W-8BEN (may be found on line @ www.irs.govunder forms).
D. The payment of expense reimbursements or honorarium payments is made by way of a check request that must be accompanied by the approved VLR and supporting documents, as outlined above.
E. Taxation Issues
Payments to NRA visitors for reimbursement of expenses are not taxable if properly supported by original receipts.
Payments to NRA visitors for honoraria are subject to 30% withholding.
1. The department withholding choice should be indicated on the VLR form and on the check request.
2. The visitor may request a refund of the withholding from the IRS.
3. The visitor will need a US Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number in order to request a refund.
Examples:
Honorarium Payments with 30% Withholding and with Gross Up of Total Example 1:
Pay $1,000 and withhold 30% Example 2: Pay $1,000 by “grossing up” the payment so the visitor receives $1,000 Check request to pay honorarium to
non-resident visitor is sent to TMS.
Company Center is charged $1,000. Visitor receives check for $700 ($1,000 x 70%).
IRS receives $300 ($1,000 x 30%).
Check request to pay honorarium to non-resident visitor. Department requests the amount be Grossed Up so that the visitor receives $1,000.
Company Center is charged $1,428.57 ($1,000 / 70%).
Visitor receives check for $1,000 ($1,428.57 x 70%).
IRS receives $428.57 ($1,428.57 x 30%).
F. Travel Management Services will process the check to the visitor and the withholding expense. Travel Management Services will provide withholding information to Payroll Services.
ATTACHMENTS / LINKS
Company 3 & 8 Expenditure Guidelines. Company 7 Expenditure Guidelines.
Company Center 4 Expenditure Guidelines. Company Center 9 Expenditure Guidelines. Co O P Expenditure Guidelines.
E&G, CO 1 Guidelines.
Travel Policies & Reimbursement Guidelines.
RELATED POLICIES
None.
JOINT COMMISSION STANDARDS / NATIONAL PATIENT SAFETY GOALS
None.
OTHER RELATED ACCREDITATION / REGULATORY STANDARDS
None.
REFERENCES
http://cpa.state.tx.us/procurement/prog/stmp/ RS forms, www.irs.gov
