Local Travel

Introduction

Employees will be reimbursed for local personal automobile mileage at the federal standard rate while on official University business. Normal commutes from the employee's home to their work base are not considered local travel and will not be reimbursed. Employees are entitled to a mileage allowance from their work base to their destination and return to their work base for miles actually traveled. If an employee travels directly to a location from their home that is not their work base, but exceeds their normal commuting distance, the employee is entitled to reimbursement but only to the extent that the total miles driven exceed the employees' normal commute mileage. This provision applies on both regularly scheduled workdays and non-regularly scheduled work days. Employees are expected to travel the most reasonable and direct route to their destination.

Procedures for Local Mileage Reimbursement

Employees must use Concur to obtain reimbursement for local travel. Instructions on how to complete a local mileage report are found here.

Procedures for guest and student local mileage reimbursements are below:

     In order to obtain reimbursement for local travel, documentation should include:

• Date(s) of trip
• Time of trip
• Total mileage driven (noting whether the trip was one-way or round-trip)
• Beginning point of trip (the street address should be indicated)
• Ending point of trip (the street address should be indicated)
• If applicable, any intermediate destination that would have an effect on mileage claimed
• The specific purpose of the trip (e.g., "to meet with Dr. Jones about the ABC project.") Simply stating "University business" is not considered sufficient documentation.

A local travel log (click here to access the Local travel log) is available to facilitate local travelers' documentation of each trip. This travel log should be completed and attached to the travel reimbursement form. The travel log is not required for individual trips, however if it is not used, the information it requires should still be documented on the travel reimbursement form. Once the travel log is attached to the travel reimbursement form, it is not necessary to replicate the detail trip information on the travel reimbursement form. Simply state "see attached travel log" and bring forward the total number of miles in the "Transportation – miles" column of the travel reimbursement form.

Internal Revenue Service Allowed Mileage

As noted earlier, the University generally only allows reimbursement of mileage in excess of an employees' normal commute from home to work base. In certain situations, the Internal Revenue Service does, if the tax payer deducts business expenses, allow taxpayers to deduct mileage in excess of University reimbursed mileage. Employees should consult their tax accountants for further guidance in this area.

Local Travel Standard Mileage

Employees will be reimbursed for local mileage driven as calculated by the Mileage Calculator within Concur.