Implementation of Amendment 90

The General Services Administration (GSA) has issued Amendment 90 to the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR). This amendment is effective for all travel performed after February 29, 2000, and requires that agencies reimburse travelers within 30 calendar days after submission of a proper travel voucher to the appropriate approving official. If travelers are not reimbursed within 30 days, late payment fees must be paid to the traveler. The late payment fee must be calculated using the prevailing Prompt Payment Act Interest Rate beginning on the 31st day after submission of a proper travel claim and ending on the date on which payment is made. Agencies must notify travelers within 7 days of any error in the voucher that would prevent payment within 30 days and provide the reason(s) why the claim is not proper. The late payment fee is interest income and will be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in accordance with IRS guidelines.

To accommodate Amendment 90, the National Finance Center (NFC) is making the following changes to the Travel System (TRVL):

1. Since timely payments to travelers will now be based on the date the voucher is received by the approving official, a change is being made in the use of Block 52, Date Approved, on the AD-616, Travel Voucher (Temporary Duty), and Block 58, Date Approved, on the AD-616R, Travel Voucher (Relocation). In lieu of recording the signature date in the Date Approved fields, approving officials will now indicate the date of voucher receipt in the Date Approved fields. This date of receipt will be stored in TRVL and will be the key to tracking travel claims to determine if travel payments are timely or if late payment fees are due to the traveler. Effective immediately , agencies should begin to record the date of receipt of the voucher in Blocks 52 and 58. (When the paper forms AD-616 and AD-616R reach reorder levels at the USDA Consolidated Forms and Publications Distribution Center, Blocks 52 and 58 will be renamed Date Received.) Note:PC-TRVL and online TRVL users should follow these same instructions for completing the Date Approved fields when electronically entering travel vouchers.
   
   
2. Modifications to TRVL are underway to incorporate the provisions of Amendment 90 that specifically deal with late payment fees to travelers. These modifications, scheduled for completion in May 2000, will subject each voucher processed in the system to interest penalty criteria to determine if late payment fees are due and will make a separate payment to the traveler for this amount. Until this modification is in place, NFC will continue to pay the original voucher amount. However, the TRVL system will maintain a record of each late payment occurrence and will retroactively pay any late payment fee due a traveler after the TRVL system modifications are completed.