1 of 9 For questions regarding business meetings and entertainment

University of California – Policy G-28

University of California Policy G-28 Travel Regulations 1 of 9

For questions regarding business meetings and entertainment expense reimbursements,

please contact your campus representative

Responsible Officer: EVP - Chief Financial Officer

Responsible Office: FO - Financial Operations

Issuance Date: [Issuance Date]

Effective Date: [Effective Date]

Last Review Date: December 31, 2015

Scope:

• Staff and academic employees of the University.

• Non-employees, including students, visiting scholars,

and independent contractors.

• This policy does not apply to travel associated with

work done within the scope of the UC/DOE contract

for the management and operations of the Lawrence

Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Travel not

within the scope of the LBNL contract is covered by

the provisions of G-28.

Contact:

Title

Email:

Phone #:

[Policy Owner]

Tax Manager

John.Barrett@ucop.edu

(510) 987-0903

University of California – Policy G-28

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I. POLICY SUMMARY

It is the policy of the University to comply with IRS regulations regarding the provision

and reimbursement of business-related travel, and to conform to the IRS “accountable

plan” rules.

. . . . .

III. POLICY STATEMENT

. . . . .

D. Reimbursement Standards

It is the policy of the University that all official travel shall be properly authorized,

reported, and reimbursed in accordance with this Bulletin. Under no circumstances shall

expenses for personal travel be charged to, or be temporarily funded by, the University,

unless otherwise noted in this Bulletin. When a University employee travels under the

sponsorship of a non-University entity, travel expenses, including advances,

prepayments, or billings, shall not be charged to a University account or billed to the

University; airline tickets must be obtained from the sponsor.

University employees traveling on official business shall observe normally accepted

standards of propriety in the type and manner of expenses they incur. In addition, it is

the traveler's responsibility to report his or her actual travel expenses in a

responsible and ethical manner, in accordance with the regulations set forth in

this Bulletin.

The University’s travel reimbursement procedures contained in this Bulletin are

designed to conform to the “accountable plan” rules published by the Internal Revenue

Service (IRS). Therefore, University reimbursement of an employee’s travel expenses

shall not result in additional taxable income to the employee. Travel expenses

considered by the IRS to be taxable income to the traveler are not reimbursable except

for the following:

• Expenses for travel in excess of one year,

• Imputed taxable income caused by substantiated expense reports submitted

after the time limit described in Section V.I.1., subject to campus discretion, or

• Certain travel expenses related to moving a new appointee or a current

employee (refer to BFB G-13, Policy and Regulations Governing Moving and

Relocation, for more information).

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• Travel-related and childcare expenses for a spouse, domestic partner,

dependent-care provider, and dependents who accompany an employee

when pre-approved by the Chancellor or other senior University officer (see

Section V.H.2.f.).

IV. COMPLIANCE / RESPONSIBILITIES

Function

Responsibilities

Executive Vice President-

Chief Financial Officer

Establish and update the policies set forth in this Bulletin.

Department Heads (or person

delegated authority by the

Chancellor, or person officially

redelegated authority)

Approve payment for the travel expense claim or electronic equivalent

submitted by the traveler; ensure that appropriate documentation is

provided to substantiate the travel expense; ensure that the travel

expenditures comply with University policy and fund source restrictions.

Campus Controller’s Office or

Medical Center Controller,

where appropriate

Approve the travel expenses, including exceptions, for each campus

Chancellor, including a spouse or domestic partner, or an Associate of

the Chancellor. Initiate proceedings for the recovery of any outstanding

cash advances sixty days after a trip is completed.

Chancellors

• May establish more restrictive procedures for the travel policies

authorized under this Bulletin.

• Designate one or more approving Vice Chancellors to approve

travel expenses incurred by the Vice Chancellors, Deans, and

Medical Center Directors.

• Approve travel expenses incurred by the designated Vice

Chancellors.

• May appoint a designee to approve travel expenses incurred by the

designated Vice Chancellors, provided that the designee does not

report to the designated Vice Chancellor.

• Provide written approval for use of private aircraft (including a

rented aircraft) for official travel after pilot registers the private

aircraft with the Chancellor and meets all the requirements under

Section V.D.2.b.i.

• Delegate authority to pre-approve reimbursement of travel

expenses of a spouse, domestic partner, dependent-care provider,

or dependents of an accompanying parent (employee).

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. . . . .

V. PROCEDURES

. . . . .

B. Payment of Travel

. . . . .

4. Payment of Expenses on Behalf of Others

University travelers normally shall not be reimbursed for expenses paid on

behalf of other persons; however, limited exceptions are permitted (see

Section V.H.2.f). In the case of co-travelers who are sharing a room.

Exceptions to this rule, such as supervised group trips, must be approved in

advance. (See Section V.E.4., Payment of Group Subsistence Expenses, for

more information.)

. . . . .

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H. Special Travel Situations

2. Non-University Travelers

Travelers in this category include prospective employees, independent

contractors and consultants, inbound travelers hired by the University for a

temporary assignment at a campus or the LBNL, foreign visiting scholars,

spouses/domestic partners, other dependents, and dependent-care providers.

a. General Regulations

Allowable travel expenses for non-University travelers are subject to the

provisions of this Bulletin. A travel expense claim must be submitted in

accordance with the requirements set forth in Section V.I., Reporting

Travel Expenses. Such reimbursements shall be tax-coded as specified in

Accounting Manual chapter D-371-12.1, Disbursements: Accounting For

and Tax Reporting of Payments Made through the Vendor System.

Travel expenses incurred by non-University travelers shall not be

reimbursed from a University fund source unless the travel has been

approved in advance by the inviting department.

b. Prospective Employees

i. Authorization

The University may reimburse the actual travel expenses related to

interviewing prospective employees, when such expenses are

necessary to acquire key personnel for employment at the University.

Authorization shall be obtained before any commitment to reimburse

travel expenses is made to the prospective employee. Reimbursement

of allowable expenses is not taxable if the expenses are properly

substantiated. In addition, at the Chancellor's discretion, actual travel

expenses and childcare expenses may be reimbursed for

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spouses/domestic partners, dependents, and dependent-care

providers who accompany candidates for faculty or high-level

administrative positions (including Manager and Senior Professional

positions) on final interviews.

. . . . .

f. Spouse, domestic partner, dependent, and dependent-care provider travel

i. Reimbursement of expenses for bona fide University business travel

The travel expenses of a spouse/domestic partners who accompanies a

University business traveler (e.g., the President, Provost, Senior Vice

President, Vice Presidents, Chancellors, Laboratory Directors, Principal

Officers of The Regents, or other employees as approved by the

Chancellor) are reimbursable under this Bulletin, provided it can be

established that the spouse or domestic partner's presence serves a bona

fide University business purpose.

Under IRS regulations, the travel expenses of a spouse or domestic

partner are not taxable, provided it can be established that his or her

presence serves a bona fide business purpose. A spouse or domestic

partner who attends a function is considered to have a business purpose if

he or she has a significant role in the proceedings or makes an important

contribution to the success of an event. Generally, protocol or tradition

dictates when the participation of a high-level official's spouse or domestic

partner is required at official University functions, such as alumni

gatherings, fund-raising or ceremonial activities, certain athletic events

(see below), and community events. Documentation should be provided

with the travel expense claim to show that the spouse or domestic

partner's attendance at the function meets the above conditions (e.g., an

event or meeting agenda, or a letter of invitation requesting that the

spouse or domestic partner attend the meeting or event).

If a spouse or domestic partner has no significant role in the proceedings,

or performs only incidental duties of a social or clerical nature, attendance

does not constitute a bona fide business purpose.

In accordance with the Policy on Associate of the President/Chancellor, an

Associate may be reimbursed for expenses related to the use of a

personal automobile for University business purposes at the basic mileage

rate specified in Appendix A.

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ii. Reimbursement of travel expenses for a spouse, domestic partner,

dependents, or dependent-care provider

Reimbursement of travel expenses, including childcare expenses, for a

spouse, domestic partner, dependent-care provider, and dependents who

accompany an employee or candidate for employment on bona fide

University business travel may be allowed in limited circumstances when

pre-approved by the Chancellor, Executive Vice Chancellor/Provost,

Dean, Director, Department Chair, or other senior University officer, as

designated.

Reimbursement of expenses related to childcare provided outside of

normal working hours while an employee or candidate for employment is

travelling for bona fide University business may be allowed in limited

circumstances when pre-approved by the Chancellor, Executive Vice

Chancellor/Provost, Dean, Director, Department chair, or other senior

University officer, as designated.

Reimbursable expenses listed above that do not have a clear University

business purpose (e.g., costs for dependent-care providers, dependents)

are not allowable as a tax-free reimbursement.

iii. Funding

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Spouse, domestic partner, dependent-care provider, and dependent travel

expenses may not be charged to state funds. For travel charged to a

contract or grant fund, the traveler should check with with the contract or

grant sponsor whether these travel expenses are permitted under any

special provisions of the contract or grant. Various non-state funds

controlled by the University may be used to fund spouse, domestic

partner, dependent-care provider, and dependent travel, but only within

the restrictions, if any, governing the use of the fund and within the policy

set forth in this Bulletin.

g. Athletic Travel – Spouse or Domestic Partner and Other Family Members

Travel by a spouse or domestic partner who accompanies an athletic

director (or assistant director or head coach) to sporting events such as

bowl games and tournaments is presumed to have a bona fide University

business purpose (see Section f, Spouse or domestic partner Travel,

above) in situations where the NCAA or potential donors expect that

certain high-ranking members of the athletic department, and their spouse

or domestic partner, will participate in events associated with these

athletic activities. The travel expenses of a spouse incurred in the pursuit

of such activities may be reimbursed provided documentation, such as an

NCAA event agenda, is provided to substantiate the business purpose of

the travel. Such amounts are not taxable or subject to reporting.

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Travel expenses related to sporting events incurred by other family

members generally do not satisfy the bona fide University business

purpose test and therefore are not reimbursable; however see section

V.f.ii for special circumstances where such expenses might be reimbursed

but still treated as taxable

Refer to Section f above for information on funding sources for spouse or

domestic partner travel.

. . . . .

VIII. REVISION HISTORY

. . . . .

3/1/2016: Change in mileage reimbursement rate to correlate with IRS Notice 2016-1.

Reformatted to the new policy template. Increase in domestic daily meals and incidental

reimbursement rate to $74 per day in accordance with IRS Notice 2015-63.

X/X/2017: Revision to permit direct billing of hotel room and taxes under campus-

approved procedures. Delegation to Chancellor or other University official to reimburse

spouse/domestic partner, dependent-care provider, and dependent travel expenses or

child care expenses related to employee’s or employment candidate’s University travel

in limited circumstances.