Employee Reimbursements

• Meal Reimbursement
  
  
• Mileage Rates
  
  
• Reimbursement for Moving Expenses
  

 

 

Meal Reimbursement

Employees can be reimbursed for business related meals. The policy for meal reimbursement is as follows:

• Receipts must be provided for all meals. Only the actual cost of meals, including taxes and tips (except where limited by contract or grant) is reimbursable.
  
  
• A reimbursement based on meal per diem is acceptable only for travel outside the United States. For further information see GAP 200.022, Travel Expenses - Employees and Students.
  
  
• For business meetings that include meals, the employee needs to provide the agenda, names of attendees, place, and date of the meeting with the reimbursement request.
  
  
• For business entertainment that includes meals, the employee needs to document the business purpose, names of attendees, place, and date of the meeting. Any alcohol purchases must be coded to G/L account code 69320.

Please refer to GAP 200.022, Travel Expenses - Employees and Students for additional information.

 

Mileage Rates

For this year's Mileage Rates, please view this year's Mileage Rates Memo.

For more information, see GAP 200.022, Travel Expenses - Employees and Students.

 

Reimbursement for Moving Expenses

Under certain conditions, Duke University departments may reimburse an employee for moving costs. The reimbursement of these costs may be taxable income to the new employee.

Non-qualified moving costs paid on the corporate card are treated as taxable and are subject to reporting to the IRS.

Qualified Moving Expenses

Qualified moving expenses are non-taxable to the employee and include:

• Storage and insurance charges for household goods for the first 30 days after the move
• Costs of moving household goods and personal effects from the former residence to the new
• Costs of traveling (including lodging) during the move from the former residence to the new
• Shipping charges for cars and pets
• Connect and disconnect fees for utilities
• Mileage reimbursement at current IRS moving mileage reimbursement rate
• Temporary lodging – last day in former city and first day in new city

For any of these reimbursed costs to be excluded from income, the new residence must be 50 miles more than the commute to the former job.

Non-qualified Moving Expenses

These moving costs, if reimbursed, are taxable income for an employee:

• Meal Expenses
• Temporary Living Expenses (except for the first and last days of the trip)
• Pre-move house hunting (after accepting employment)
• Loss on sale of home
• Home improvements
• Security deposits
• Real estate expenses
• Early termination of lease agreement fee

Reimbursements of non-qualified moving expenses will be reduced by all applicable taxes. The employee’s IRS Form W-2 will reflect all taxes withheld.

For other questions about moving expenses, refer to GAP 200.022, Travel Expenses - Employees and Students.

 

Direct Payments to Employees

Funds paid to employees to assist with moving expenses are subject to withholding and reporting. An exception to this general rule occurs when an employee submits documentation to the Corporate Payroll Department that identifies the nature of the moving expenses - qualified or non-qualified. If the payments to the employee were used for qualified moving expenses, the payment amounts will not be included on the employees form W-2.