[Pols-l] Fw: Travel Reimbursements After 60 Days

[Haider-Markel, Donald Patrick]

FYI...

________________________________
From: Yoakum, Katrina
Sent: Tuesday, January 3, 2017 1:51 PM
To: Deans, Directors, and Department Chairs
Cc: Cregg, Gina
Subject: Travel Reimbursements After 60 Days

FROM:  Katrina Yoakum, Comptroller, KU
Gina Cregg, CFO, KUCR

TO:         Deans, Directors, and Chairs distribution list

SUBJECT: Travel Reimbursements After 60 Days


Colleagues,

The IRS requires travel receipts submitted 60 days after the travel end date be taxed as a taxable fringe benefit.    Representatives from the Comptroller's Office, KUCR Fiscal Affairs, Procurement Services and Shared Service Centers have developed a set of business procedures to ensure we provide timely travel reimbursement as well as remain in compliance with IRS requirements.

To ensure that all staff are notified of this change, we would appreciate your assistance in sharing this announcement with your staffs.  In addition to this memo, we will also be sending out a campus wide announcement regarding this policy change as well as discussing it during upcoming campus meetings lead by the Comptroller's Office and the Office of Research.  Our goal in announcing this policy change is to encourage all travelers to submit their receipts before the 60-day limit.

Procedures were designed with the end user - the customer, you and your colleagues - in mind.  There will be no additional steps for travelers, and central office and SSC representatives will provide prompt notifications to assist travelers with submitting travel receipts before the 60-day limit.

If a traveler submits their receipts beyond the 60-day limit,

·         The traveler and the department funding the travel will be notified and the travel reimbursement will follow existing workflow approvals within the PeopleSoft travel module.

·         Central Offices will work with Payroll to add the value of the taxable fringe benefit to the traveler's W-2.

·         Employee taxes connected with the post 60-day reimbursement will be deducted from traveler's future on-cycle paycheck.

·         Employer taxes on taxable travel reimbursement will be charged to departmental funding provided by the department funding the trip, also on a future on-cycle paycheck.  Funding for employer taxes may not be from a sponsored project as it is an unallowable expense.
As mentioned, to help travelers avoid this potential fringe tax, they will be reminded via email to submit their traveler receipts prior to 60 days.

Please note that the 60-day limit is specifically for travelers turning in receipts and does not extend to reimbursement processing time by SSCs or Central Offices.  If traveler submits receipts on day 60 and reimbursement is approved for payment 3 days later, the traveler will not be taxed.

Ultimately, our shared goal is improving the time it takes to reimburse travelers for their expenses and working to ensure reimbursements avoid preventable taxation.  There are multiple behind-the-scenes steps to the travel reimbursement process, although the first step begins with travelers submitting their receipts as quickly as possible upon their return.  To help you better prepare for this change, the Comptroller's Office and KUCR Fiscal Affairs plan to begin enforcement of this policy on March 1, 2017 for travel that ended December 31, 2016.   KU and KUCR policies will be updated to reflect this change.

Thank you for your partnership as we roll out this important and necessary change.  If you have questions, please reach out to either Katrina Yoakum<mailto:kyoakum at ku.edu> or Gina Cregg<mailto:gcregg at ku.edu>.


-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: winmail.dat
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 13045 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.ku.edu/pipermail/pols-l/attachments/20170104/57447b06/attachment.bin>