Other Allowable Expenses

POLICY STATEMENT

Travelers may be reimbursed for other allowable expenses in accordance with state law.

DEFINITIONS

None

PROCEDURES and RESPONSIBILITIES

Phone Charges

Phone calls, postage, and other expenses included in the “other authorized expenses” column must be certified at the bottom of the travel voucher by the employee that they are for valid business expenses (the employee’s signature on the expense voucher qualifies as such certification). Phone calls itemized on a hotel bill should be circled and indication made if they were for business, or deducted and not claimed if they were personal calls. Again, if reimbursement is claimed, this must be itemized and claimed in the "other expenses authorized" column. Calls home are considered personal expenses and are not reimbursable.

Taxi Fares

Fares for taxis or limos (airport transportation services) in excess of $10.00 require a receipt which must be attached to the expense voucher to receive reimbursement for that item.

Miscellaneous Charges

·        Baggage Handling

o       Reasonable charges will be allowed without receipt. Reasonable is usually defined as $1 per bag for each level of handling.

·        Hotel/Airport Parking:

o       For charges in excess of $10.00, receipts must be attached to the expense voucher.

·        Laundry Charges

o       One reasonable laundry expense is reimbursable for each seven (7) consecutive days that travelers are required to be away from their official station on official business. This does not mean that a laundry expense will be reimbursed when the employee returns home at the end of 7 days away from home. It does mean that if the employee will be away from home seven or more consecutive days, a reasonable laundry or cleaning expense will be reimbursed recognizing that it would be difficult to carry more than 5 days’ clothing at a time. If after a complete, written justification, the department head deems it necessary for an employee to be paid for additional cleaning/pressing charges while traveling on official business, the attachment of the approved justification to the request for reimbursement of travel expenses will enable the employee to be reimbursed for such charges.

RELATED DOCUMENTS

• Section 25-1-79, Mississippi Code of 1972, Annotated