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                             February 28, 1997
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                             GSBCA 13683-RELO


                    In the Matter of RANDALL E. ROWLEY


     Randall E. Rowley, Manassas, VA, Claimant.

     Steve Goldberg, Chief, Office of Travel Management and
Relocation, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC, appearing for
Department of the Treasury.

DeGRAFF, Board Judge.

     Randall E. Rowley, an employee of the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS), transferred from Atlanta, Georgia to Washington, DC.  In
connection with the transfer, the IRS agreed to reimburse
Mr. Rowley for sixty days of temporary quarters subsistence
expenses (TQSE).  Mr. Rowley asked that the TQSE period be extended
to 120 days because he purchased a house that would not be
constructed within the initial sixty-day TQSE period, and the IRS
agreed to the extension.  The claimant and the agency disagree as
to the amount of TQSE which should be paid for lodging for the
120-day period.

     Mr. Rowley leased a house in a suburb of Washington, DC, to
use as temporary quarters.  The lease provided that Mr. Rowley
would pay $1,650 before he occupied the house to cover the period
from August 15 through September 14, 1994; $880 on September 1 to
cover the period from September 15 through September 30, 1994;
$1,650 per month on the first day of each month for October,
November, and December 1994; and $1300 per month on the first day
of each month for January and February 1995.  Mr. Rowley says that
it was not possible for him to enter into a lease for a shorter
period of time.  Mr. Rowley and his family moved into the house on
August 15, 1994, and stayed for 146 days, until they moved into
their permanent residence in early January 1995.  Mr. Rowley paid
the lessor all of the amounts called for by the lease, a total of
$10,080.

     When Mr. Rowley submitted his claim for reimbursement for
TQSE, he requested $78.81 per day for lodging for August 13 and 14,
1994, before he moved into the leased house, and the IRS does not
take issue with these amounts.  Mr. Rowley also claimed $69.04 per
day for lodging costs for the remaining 118 days of the TQSE
period.  Mr. Rowley arrived at the $69.04 daily rate by dividing
$10,080 (the total amount he paid to the lessor) by 146 days (the
total number of days he and his family occupied the leased house). 

     The IRS disagreed with the manner in which Mr. Rowley computed
the daily rate for his lodging.  The IRS's position is that
Mr. Rowley's daily rate is $53.23 per day for August 15 through
September 14 ($1,650/31 days); $55 per day for September 15 through
30 ($880/16 days); $53.23 per day for each day of October
($1,650/31 days); $55 per day for each day of November ($1,650/30
days); and $53.23 per day for ten days in December ($1,650/31
days).

     Mr. Rowley asked the General Accounting Office (GAO) to review
his claim.

                                Discussion

     When an employee is transferred in the interest of the
Government from one official station to another for permanent duty,
the agency may reimburse the employee for a maximum of 120 days for
"[s]ubsistence expenses . . . while occupying temporary quarters." 
The agency is authorized to reimburse the employee "[u]nder such
regulations as the President may prescribe and to the extent
considered necessary and appropriate, as provided therein . . . ." 
5 U.S.C.  5724a(a) (1994).  The President delegated to the
Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) the
authority to prescribe regulations implementing this section and,
consequently, GSA issued the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR).

     The FTR provides that reimbursement for TQSE shall be made
"only for actual subsistence expenses incurred provided these are
incident to occupancy of temporary quarters and are reasonable in
amount."  The FTR also provides that the amount which may be
reimbursed "shall be the actual amount of allowable expenses
incurred for each 30-day period not to exceed a maximum amount
based on the applicable daily rate . . . multiplied by 30."  The
daily maximum reimbursable TQSE amount established by the FTR is
reduced after the first thirty days of TQSE.  41 CFR 302-5.4
(1996).  As permitted by the FTR, the IRS issued a manual which
addresses reimbursement for TQSE.  The manual states that employees
will be reimbursed only for "actual subsistence expenses that are
directly related to the occupancy of the temporary quarters and
reasonable as to amount and duration."  IR Manual,  540.

     Mr. Rowley wants to compute his daily lodging rate by dividing
the total amount that he paid to his landlord by the number of days
that he spent in the leased house.  This daily rate, however, does
not accurately represent the actual expenses that Mr. Rowley
incurred for each thirty-day period while he occupied temporary
quarters.  Instead, Mr. Rowley's computation represents the average
daily cost, for 146 days, of a six and one-half month lease.

     The IRS looked at the rent expense that Mr. Rowley actually
incurred during the period for which he was authorized to be
reimbursed for TQSE.  The IRS then computed Mr. Rowley's daily rate
by dividing each of his rent payments by the number of days for
which the payment was made.  The IRS's computation accurately
reflects Mr. Rowley's actual expenses during each thirty-day period
while he occupied temporary quarters.  Mr. Rowley is entitled to be
reimbursed according to the IRS's calculation of his daily lodging
rate, subject to whatever other limitations may apply.  See 41 CFR
302-5.4.




                                   ______________________________
                                   MARTHA H. DeGRAFF
                                   Board Judge