Travel News December 2012
Rental Car Contracts
Rental car contracts have been extended with Avis (including their Budget brand locations and cars) and
Enterprise (including their National brand locations and car) from December 1, 2012 to March 31,
2013.
Mileage Reimbursement
The maximum state mileage reimbursement rate for travel by state employees in a personal vehicle will
increase from 55.5 cents to 56.5 cents per mile, effective Jan. 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2013. This rate is
consistent with the Internal Revenue Service’s standard mileage rate.
Rental Car vs. Mileage Reimbursement
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts recently implemented the Rental Car vs. Mileage
Reimbursement Calculator (Excel) that helps employees make informed and fiscally sound decisions
regarding vehicle travel when conducting state business. The electronic tool considers a combination of
factors and performs a cost comparison between renting a vehicle and receiving reimbursement for
using a personal vehicle in business travel. To conserve state funds, travelers should consider all
relevant circumstances and use this new resource to determine the best transportation option.
This resource is available at the following sites:
Travel2 System at https://www.fiscal.ttuhsc.edu/travel2/Help/links.aspx and the Mileage Calculator will
be listed under “Other Travel Links”.
Textravel at https://fmx.cpa.state.tx.us/fmx/travel/textravel/trans/index.php and is available under
“Other Resources” (column on the right side of the site).
Student Advances
Students may now obtain travel advances for individual travel. We previously were not allowing
students to obtain an advance without going through a group sponsor. Problems in the past with
obtaining repayment of an advance balance due to the University initially forced our offices to enforce
this policy. A hold will be put on a student’s account if a reimbursement to the Travel Office is overdue.
The hold will not allow the student to register for classes or obtain a transcript until the reimbursement is
paid. Travel Preparers need to make sure that the student is aware of this policy when an advance is
requested.
Texas Hotel Occupancy Tax Exemption Form
Employees of Texas institutions of higher education who travel on official business may claim exemption
from the six percent state hotel occupancy tax. A completed Texas Hotel Occupancy Tax Exemption
Certificate (Form 12-302) should be presented to the hotel at check in to claim the exemption. Any local
hotel occupancy tax imposed; however, must be paid. The form is available on the Travel Services
website under Travel Forms http://www.depts.ttu.edu/procurement/travelservice/travelforms.asp
Travel Expenses (60 days old) are Taxable to the Employee effective
09/01/2012
An agreement between Procurement Services and our Tax Compliance Office has been reached to change
the calculation on the 60 day rule for taxable reimbursements.
In accordance with IRS regulations, effective September 1, 2012, any travel voucher
not approved received in the Travel Office (voucher and paperwork received in the
Travel Office) that is over within 60 days of the trip end date old will be taxable to the
traveler. The Travel System will calculate based on the trip end date and will
automatically record the taxable expense will be reported to Payroll.
Travel System Reports: Pending Trips by Department (replaced Pending
Applications by Department)
Rather than showing only pending applications, this report now shows any application or voucher that has
been entered but has not been approved by the travel office yet. There is a column that shows how many
days remain until the voucher is taxed. From the moment the trip is entered up until the trip end date, this
column will show ‘n/a’. After that, it shows how many days are left to get it in before the taxable
deadline.
o If there are less than 30 days remaining, the row is highlighted yellow.
o If there are less than 15 days, the row is highlighted orange.
o Once it hits the deadline, the column will be highlighted red and show ‘Taxable’.
FY12 trips were not excluded from this highlighting scheme; however, the taxable status will only be
enforced on FY13 trips and above.