ALLOWANCE FOR TEMPORARY QUARTERS SUBSISTENCE EXPENSES

• Citation: 41 CFR Part 302-6
• Sections: 12

§ 302-6.1 Temporary quarters and temporary quarters subsistence expenses (TQSE) allowance.

The term temporary quarters refers to lodging obtained for the purpose of temporary occupancy from a private or commercial source incident to an official relocation or temporary change of station. TQSE is a discretionary allowance that an agency may use to reimburse an employee reasonably and equitably for subsistence expenses incurred when it is necessary to occupy temporary quarters. Transportation expenses incurred in the vicinity of the temporary quarters are not TQSE expenses; there is no authority to pay such expenses under TQSE.

§ 302-6.2 Eligibility for TQSE allowance.

Employees are eligible for a TQSE allowance if their agency has authorized one and the following conditions are met:

(a) The agency authorizes TQSE before occupancy of the temporary quarters begins;

(b) The new official station is located within the United States;

(c) The relocation authorization specifies the number of days allowed to receive TQSE;

(d) The employee has signed a service agreement;

(e) The old and new official stations are at least 50 miles apart (as measured by map distance) via a usually traveled surface route; and

(f) The employee meets the distance test (Note: If a waiver to the distance test is granted, the employee is not eligible for TQSE.).

§ 302-6.3 Eligibility for TQSE allowance when transferred to or from a foreign area.

(a) Employees may not receive a TQSE allowance under this part when transferred to a foreign area. However, an employee may qualify for a comparable allowance under the DSSR (Government Civilians, Foreign Areas) (see § 302-3.100 of this chapter).

(b) Employees may receive a TQSE allowance under this part when transferred from a foreign area and temporary quarters are occupied in the United States. An employee may also be authorized a comparable allowance, prescribed by the Department of State, at the foreign area preceding final departure subsequent to the necessary vacating of residence quarters (see § 302-3.100 of this chapter).

§ 302-6.4 Occupancy of temporary quarters at Government expense.

When authorized to occupy temporary quarters—

(a) Only the employee and/or their immediate family, as annotated on the relocation authorization, may occupy temporary quarters at Government expense;

(b) Temporary quarters must be occupied within reasonable proximity (approximately 50 miles) of the geographical area of the old and/or new official stations. Neither the employee nor their immediate family may be reimbursed for occupying temporary quarters at any other location, unless justified by special circumstances ( e.g., the temporary quarters location is subject to a Presidentially-Declared Disaster) that are reasonably related to the transfer;

(c) The eligibility period for which TQSE reimbursement is authorized to be claimed for the employee and for each member of their immediate family must run concurrently;

(d) The period for TQSE reimbursement ends at midnight on:

(1) The day before the employee and/or any member of their immediate family occupies permanent residence quarters (even if some, but not all household goods have been delivered such that the residence is suitable for permanent occupancy);

(2) The last day for completing all aspects of the relocation under § 302-2.2 of this chapter; or

(3) The day the authorized period for TQSE reimbursement expires, whichever occurs first. (See § 302-6.9 for details.)

§ 302-6.5 Partial days of temporary quarters occupancy.

Occupancy of temporary quarters is based on calendar days and partial days are counted as full days of TQSE. An employee may not receive reimbursement under both a TQSE allowance and another subsistence expenses allowance within the same day, except as follows:

(a) If the employee claims TQSE reimbursement on the same day that official travel en route to their new official station ends, the en route subsistence expenses will be computed under applicable partial day rules, and the employee may also be reimbursed for actual TQSE incurred after 6 p.m. of that day.

(b) If an employee's immediate family is claiming TQSE and the employee is performing separate official TDY travel, or receiving a cost-of-living allowance payable under 5 U.S.C. 5941 in addition to a TQSE allowance.

§ 302-6.6 Temporary quarters that become permanent residence quarters.

If the agency determines that an employee's temporary quarters have become their permanent residence quarters, the employee is no longer eligible for TQSE. The employee will be required to repay any TQSE they previously received for those quarters unless they show in a manner satisfactory to their agency that they initially intended to occupy the quarters temporarily. (See § 302-6.207 for details.)

§ 302-6.7 Receiving TQSE while occupying permanent residence quarters at old official station.

Agencies may authorize TQSE for a reasonable time when the employee's residence at their old official station becomes temporary and no longer suitable for permanent residence ( e.g., household goods have been shipped and are unavailable).

§ 302-6.8 Requirements and method for TQSE reimbursement.

Agencies will reimburse for TQSE under the “lodgings-plus” method (TQSE-LP). The TQSE-LP Reimbursement Method is outlined as follows:

(a) The employee must use the Government contractor-issued travel charge card as the method of payment for all official relocation expenses, including TQSE, unless exempted under part § 301-51.2 of this subtitle.

(b) The employee must file a voucher and provide documentation for their temporary quarters lodging expenses, lodging taxes, and other miscellaneous expenses. There is no requirement to document M&IE.

(c) The employee may receive an advance of funds if authorized in accordance with agency policy and listed on the travel authorization. The agency may advance the amount of funds necessary to cover the estimated TQSE expenses for up to 30 days. The agency may subsequently advance additional funds for periods up to 30 days.

(d) The agency will pay the actual daily temporary quarters lodging cost and a daily M&IE allowance not to exceed the single maximum lodging amount and the single maximum M&IE amount for the applicable rate in effect for the locality at the old or new official station or combination thereof, wherever temporary quarters will be occupied. The applicable rate could be the standard CONUS, CONUS non-standard area (NSA), or OCONUS non-foreign locality rate as determined by GSA or the Department of Defense.

(e) TQSE expenses must be reasonable and if expenses exceed the maximum allowable amount, the employee will not be reimbursed for more than the maximum allowable amount. The “maximum allowable amount” is the “maximum daily amount” multiplied by the number of days TQSE is actually incurred not to exceed the number of days authorized, taking into account that the rates change after 30 days in temporary quarters. The “maximum daily amount” (see note 1 to this section) is determined by adding the rates for the employee and each member of their immediate family authorized to occupy temporary quarters.

(1) For the first 30 days of temporary quarters:

(i) The employee and/or their unaccompanied spouse or domestic partner (see note 2 to this section) may receive 100 percent of the temporary quarters lodging portion of the applicable locality rate and 100 percent of the M&IE portion of the applicable locality rate.

(ii) An accompanied spouse, domestic partner, or a member of the immediate family who is age 12 or older may receive 50 percent of the temporary quarters lodging portion of the applicable locality rate and 50 percent of the M&IE portion of the applicable locality rate.

(iii) A member of the immediate family who is under age 12 may receive 40 percent of the temporary quarters lodging portion of the applicable locality rate and 40 percent of the M&IE portion of the applicable locality rate.

(2) For the second 30 days of temporary quarters:

(i) The employee and/or their unaccompanied spouse or domestic partner (see note 2 to this section) may receive 75 percent of the temporary quarters lodging portion of the applicable locality rate and 75 percent of the M&IE portion of the applicable locality rate.

(ii) An accompanied spouse, domestic partner, or a member of the immediate family who is age 12 or older may receive 45 percent of the temporary quarters lodging portion of the applicable locality rate and 45 percent of the M&IE portion of the applicable locality rate.

(iii) A member of the immediate family who is under age 12 may receive 35 percent of the temporary quarters lodging portion of the applicable locality rate and 35 percent of the M&IE portion of the applicable locality rate.

(3) For any additional authorized days of temporary quarters:

(i) The employee and/or their unaccompanied spouse or domestic partner (see note 2 to this section) may receive 55 percent of the temporary quarters lodging portion of the applicable locality rate and 55 percent of the M&IE portion of the applicable locality rate.

(ii) An accompanied spouse, domestic partner, or a member of the immediate family who is age 12 or older may receive 40 percent of the temporary quarters lodging portion of the applicable locality rate and 40 percent of the M&IE portion of the applicable locality rate.

(iii) A member of the immediate family who is under age 12 may receive 30 percent of the temporary quarters lodging portion of the applicable locality rate and 30 percent of the M&IE portion of the applicable locality rate.

Note 1 to § 302-6.8:

Temporary quarters lodging and M&IE remain as separate maximum amounts for purposes of calculating TQSE-LP. Examples of TQSE calculations are published in an FTR bulletin at https://gsa.gov/ftrbulletins.

Note 2 to § 302-6.8:

That is, when the spouse or domestic partner necessarily occupies temporary quarters in lieu of the employee or in a location separate from the employee.

§ 302-6.9 TQSE time and daily amount limitations.

(a) Agencies may initially authorize an employee to claim TQSE for a period not to exceed 60 consecutive days. The agency may authorize an extension of up to 60 additional consecutive days, for a maximum total of 120 consecutive days, if the agency determines that there is a compelling reason for continued occupancy of temporary quarters. Under no circumstances can more than 120 days of TQSE be reimbursed.

(1) A “compelling reason” that may warrant an extension is an event that is beyond the employee's control and is acceptable to the agency.

(2) [Reserved]

(b) Agencies may reduce the total number of days that are authorized for TQSE by the number of househunting days ( e.g., instead of authorizing 60 days of TQSE the agency can authorize 50 days to account for a 10-day househunting trip); however, the percentage multiplier used for calculating TQSE may not be reduced based on the number of days used for a househunting trip.

(c) The authorized period for claiming TQSE-LP reimbursement is measured on consecutive days, and once begun, continues to run whether or not occupancy of temporary quarters continues. However, the authorized period for claiming reimbursement may be interrupted in the following instances:

(1) For the time allowed for official travel en route between the old and new official stations;

(2) For circumstances attributable to official necessity such as an intervening temporary duty assignment or military duty; or

(3) For a non-official necessary interruption such as hospitalization, approved sick leave, or other reasons beyond the employee's control and acceptable to the agency.

(d) If the estimated daily amount of TQSE is determined in advance to be lower than the maximum daily amount, agencies may reduce the maximum allowable amount to the expected expenses provided the new applicable amount is annotated on the relocation travel authorization before occupancy of temporary quarters begins.

(e) Temporary quarters lodging taxes are not included in the daily temporary quarters lodging rate and may be documented as a separate TQSE-LP miscellaneous expense. Laundry/dry cleaning expenses are included in the incidental portion of the daily M&IE allowance and are not separately reimbursed.

§ 302-6.10 Impact to TQSE reimbursement if relocating to, or currently occupying, temporary quarters in a Presidentially-Declared Disaster area.

(a) Agencies should consider delaying all non-essential relocations to Presidentially-Declared Disaster areas because the ability to secure temporary quarters lodgings in those areas may be compromised. If relocation cannot be delayed, or if an employee is already occupying temporary quarters that have been affected by the disaster in a Presidentially-Declared Disaster area, for temporary quarters located within CONUS the agency may:

(1) Authorize an employee to occupy temporary quarters outside of the proximity requirements at § 302-6.4; and

(2) Authorize TQSE-LP as outlined in this part or authorize actual expenses on an individual basis under chapter 301 of this subtitle, not to exceed 300 percent of the applicable per diem rate per § 301-11.17 of this subtitle; or

(3) Issue a blanket actual expense authorization for official relocation travel performed on or after the date of the Presidentially-Declared Disaster.

(b) The authorizations in paragraphs (a)(1) through (3) of this section must apply to a specific Presidential Disaster Declaration, and will expire one year from the date the Declaration is issued, unless an agency head or their designee extends the blanket authorization based on a determination of necessity. The maximum limit of 120 consecutive days that TQSE may be authorized is statutorily based and remains in effect in accordance with § 302-6.9. A blanket authorization issued under this section shall not apply to any travel performed pursuant to chapter 301 of this subtitle.

§ 302-6.200 Administration of TQSE allowance.

TQSE should be authorized only if, and only for as long as necessary. Agencies must administer the TQSE allowance to minimize or avoid other relocation expenses.

§ 302-6.201 Governing policies that must be established for the TQSE allowance.

Agencies must establish policies and procedures governing:

(a) When the agency will authorize temporary quarters for employees;

(b) Who will determine if temporary quarters is appropriate in each situation;

(c) Who will determine the appropriate period of time for which TQSE reimbursement will be authorized, including approval of extensions and interruptions of temporary quarters occupancy;

(d) Who will determine whether quarters were indeed temporary;

(e) Who will determine, and in what instances, to issue the authorizations at § 302-6.10, including a blanket authorization for actual expenses;

(f) What circumstances necessitate the extension of a blanket actual expense authorization under § 302-6.10.