Allowable Mileage and Per Diem Expenses

Review the following information concerning liability exposure provided by SUNY.

• You may use a personal vehicle for business related travel when a UB owned vehicle or common carrier is not available, is not cost effective or is otherwise not appropriate. Before a trip, justification may be required for use of a personal vehicle. Contact the travel office for verification.
• If you travel from home to another location and then continue to your primary work location during the day, only the additional mileage incurred beyond the normal commute is reimbursable.
• You can claim only the mileage incurred during the course of daily business for the distance greater than your normal commute to your official work station. You can only have one official work station. 
• Departments and employees are encouraged to use Campus Mail for correspondence and the UB shuttle service in lieu of a personal vehicle to reduce travel expenditures and the impact on the environment.
• The odometer reading should be used as the official record of mileage in all instances of personal car mileage.
• Travel Services will round down mileage totals when reimbursements are calculated.
• Fines, towing charges, violations (e.g. traffic, speeding, parking) and auto club memberships are not reimbursable.
• Car mileage is not reimbursable when a traveler uses another individual's personal vehicle. 
• All mileage reimbursements must have a specific business purpose of travel indicated on the reimbursement form. Statements such as “on official business,” “in the course of duties,” “to attend meetings,” etc., are not acceptable. If the mileage is incurred on a regular basis, (e.g., school observations, obtaining research samples), a form letter may be attached each time the reimbursement is requested.
• If an employee chooses to drive their personal vehicle when the cost of airfare is less expensive, only the equivalent cost of coach airfare is reimbursable. Full mileage amounts must be noted on the expense report or travel voucher and the coach airfare equivalent must be claimed as reimbursement. Documentation must be provided to support the coach amount. A cost comparison between airfare and mileage must be included with the expense report or travel voucher. 
• Parking and toll expenses — all reasonable and necessary parking and toll charges will be reimbursed whether paid in cash or with a personally issued EZ Pass. UB may not establish EZ Pass accounts for employees’ personal cars.

Mileage reimbursement rates are determined by the IRS and collective bargaining agreements.

If any portion of the receipt includes non-UB business expenses, that portion cannot be reimbursed.

Mileage reimbursement rates are determined by the IRS. Charges for gasoline, accessories, repairs, depreciation, anti-freeze, towing, insurance, auto club memberships and other expenditures are considered included in the federal mileage allowance.

The vehicle owner’s personal insurance is primary in the event of an accident.

Your odometer determines actual mileage driven. Use these estimates for planning purposes.

• Use MapQuest for directions
• Find highway and road closures for the U.S. and Canada
• See national traffic and road closure information from U.S. Department of Transportation

A per diem is a set amount of money available to be spent each day. Rates depend on the city and county in which you lodged.

The per diem includes tips to bellman or hotel maids.

Note: Lodging and meal reimbursements may not be requested if you are staying in your personal residence. This would include your home address or a remote residence that you own.

Find the per diem rates for travel in the Continental United States for your travel when you know the city/state, zip code or county for your destination.

• Find the maximum rate you will be reimbursed for meals in the Continental United States by entering the city/state, zip code or by clicking on the map and finding the county where you stayed.
  
• If you need to know the county of your destination, search the National Association of Counties or US Counties for your destination city.

Rates to non-foreign areas including US military bases are established by the US Department of Defense.

Find per diem rates for non-foreign areas:  Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Midway, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Wake Island and US Military bases.

Rates for travel to foreign countries are established by the US Department of State. Find per diem rates for foreign travel (if you have trouble accessing this link with Chrome or Firefox, then try Internet Explorer).

• When a meal, such as a breakfast, dinner, banquet or buffet, is included or provided at the conference, the meal is not reimburseable. The meeting or conference agenda must be provided to confirm that meals are not included.

On travel days:

• On the day of departure, you are eligible for breakfast if departure occurs before 7am. You are eligible for dinner if departure occurs before 6:00 pm.
• On the day of return, you are eligible for breakfast if the trip ends after 8:00am. You are eligible for dinner if the trip ends after 7:00 pm.

• Breakfast and dinner are the only meals that are reimbursable.
• Reimbursement is not provided for lunch.
• Incidental expenses such as tips to bellmen, porters, hotel maid are included in the per diem allowance.

Meal per diem CAN be claimed when the following meals are included or provided:

• Continental
• Reception
• Party
• Cocktail Party

Meal per diem CANNOT be claimed if the following meals are included or provided:

• Breakfast
• Dinner
• Banquet
• Buffet

When an employee stays with family or friends in lieu of traditional lodging, a per diem can be claimed. The city and state of the host must be included on the expense report or travel voucher. You cannot combine unreceipted lodging with meal receipts for the evening unreceipted lodging is being claimed. To be entitled to the full per diem rate, travelers must be in overnight travel status and be eligible for reimbursement for breakfast and dinner.

When the traveler is in overnight travel status (without receipts) but is not eligible for the full meal allowance per diem (according to the meal eligibility requirements), the traveler will receive the per diem less the allowance for the meals as listed below. Likewise, if the traveler is entitled to an additional breakfast on the first day of travel or an additional dinner on the last day of travel (according to the meal eligibility requirements) the rate schedule below can be used. These rates are only used with unreceipted per diem rates as listed for overnight rates.

When an employee is on a day trip only and does not stay overnight the following unreceipted meal rates apply. To be entitled to these meal rates the employee must be in travel status (over 35 miles from home and official station) and meet meal eligibility requirements.

• Travelers with meal receipts are reimbursed up to the meal per diem specific for the city or time of year of their travel location according to the federal rates.
• Alcoholic beverages are not reimbursable.
• Per IRS guidelines, non-overnight meals are taxable. In order to meet this IRS requirements, UB withholds taxes from non-overnight meal reimbursements. Therefore, non-overnight meal reimbursements must be charged to the funding source that pays the employee.