PAYMENT GUIDELINES

• Citation: 41 CFR Part 304-6
• Sections: 8

§ 304-6.1 Restrictions on monetary payments from non-Federal sources.

Agencies may not accept a monetary payment in the form of cash from a non-Federal source. Monetary payment(s) received from a non-Federal source must be in the form of a check or similar instrument made payable to the agency.

§ 304-6.2 Partial payment handling.

When a non-Federal source provides partial payment for travel expenses, the agency should specify on the travel authorization that the employee will be reimbursed for the difference between the full allowances and the payment from the non-Federal source.

§ 304-6.3 Reporting payments from non-Federal sources.

The agency head or designee must submit U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Form 1353 or Standard Form (SF) 326, Semiannual Report of Payments Accepted From a Non-Federal Source, to report payments received from non-Federal sources. This applies to all payments that are more than $250 per event for an employee and accompanying spouse. For purposes of the $250 threshold, payments for an employee and accompanying spouse shall be aggregated. If agencies wish to use a form other than OGE Form 1353 or SF 326 to report such payments, the agency may seek permission to do so by contacting the Office of Government Ethics at United States Office of Government Ethics, 1201 New York Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005-3917, or at [email protected].

§ 304-6.4 Due dates for the OGE Form 1353 or SF 326

(a) Agencies must—

(1) Submit the completed report no later than May 31 for payments received from the preceding October 1 through March 31; and

(2) Submit the completed report no later than November 30 for payments received from the preceding April 1 through September 30; and

(b) Submit the completed report including negative reports, to: Director of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), 1201 New York Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005-3917 or at [email protected].

§ 304-6.5 Handling statutorily protected information.

Information that is protected by statute from disclosure to the public should not be reported. However, if agencies omit otherwise reportable information from the OGE Form 1353 or SF 326 because the information may not be disclosed, agencies must notify OGE unless otherwise prohibited by law and, if requested by the Director of OGE, make the information available for inspection by an OGE employee with the requisite clearance.

§ 304-6.6 Reports for public inspection.

OGE must make any report filed by an agency under this part (that is not protected from disclosure by statute) available for public inspection and copying on the later of the following two dates:

(a) Within 30 days after the applicable due date.

(b) Within 30 days after the date OGE actually receives the report.

§ 304-6.7 Acceptance by OGE of the OGE Form 1353 or SF 326.

OGE is responsible for making the information provided by the agencies available to the public. It is each agency's responsibility to file the accurate and complete reports and to make the appropriate conflict of interest analysis.

§ 304-6.8 Determining value of payments in kind for OGE Form 1353 or SF 326 reporting.

(a) For conference, training, or similar fees waived, discounted, or paid for by a non-Federal source on behalf of a meeting attendee, agencies must report the amount charged to other attendees. However, a waiver or discount of the registration fee by the non-Federal sponsor of the event for the day(s) the employee participated in the meeting or similar function as a speaker, panelist, or presenter is not a payment in kind and does not need to be reported.

(b) For transportation or lodging, agencies must report the cost that the non-Federal source paid or usually would have been charged for such an event.

(c) For chartered, corporate, or other private aircraft—

(1) When a common carrier is available, agencies must report the first-class rate that would have been charged by a commercial air carrier at the time the event took place.

(2) When a common carrier is not available, agencies must report the cost of chartering a similar aircraft using a commercially available service.

(d) For lodging where no commercial rate is available, agencies must report the daily per diem rate. These rates are available at https://www.gsa.gov/perdiem, with links to the non-foreign and foreign area rates.