Board of Contract Appeals
                    General Services Administration
                         Washington, D.C. 20405
 
                          ___________________
 
                            October 22, 1998
                          ____________________
 
 
                            GSBCA 14685-RELO
 
 
                   In the Matter of DANIEL A. EKLUND
 
 
        Daniel A. Eklund, Pequot Lakes, MN, Claimant.
 
        Stephen Coakley, Deputy Chief of Staff, Resource Management,
   United  States Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC, appearing
   for Department of the Army.
 
   PARKER, Board Judge.
 
        The United States Army Corps  of Engineers made mistakes  on
   Daniel Eklund's  Form W-2  Wage and Tax  Statement for  the years
   1994  and 1995.   For  the  year 1994,  the Corps  under-reported
   certain  taxable  allowances  which Mr.  Eklund  had  received in
   connection with his relocation to  St. Paul, Minnesota.  When the
   error was corrected,  Mr. Eklund was required to  file an amended
   tax return for that year.  In addition to owing extra  taxes, Mr.
   Eklund was assessed $97.69 in interest.  The mistake for the year
   1995  did not require  Mr. Eklund to  pay additional tax  but did
   require him to file an amended return.
 
        Mr. Eklund filed a claim  for reimbursement of the $97.69 in
   interest assessed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for 1994,
   and for the  $80 that he  paid a tax  service to prepare  amended
   returns for 1994 and 1995.   The Corps has denied the claims  and
   Mr. Eklund  has  requested  that  the  Board  review  the  Corps'
   decision.
 
                               Discussion
 
        We  agree with  the Corps that  the claims may  not be paid.
   The Board is not aware of, nor has  Mr. Eklund pointed us to, any
   statute or  regulation governing  relocation of  federal civilian
   employees  which would authorize  the Government to  reimburse an
   employee for either  the cost of preparing an  amended tax return
   or for  interest  incurred  in connection  with  the  payment  of
   additional tax.  In George C. Grisaffe, B-223574 (Apr. 23, 1987),
   the  Comptroller General,  the  Board's  predecessor in  deciding
   employee relocation  claims, held that there was  no statutory or
   regulatory  authority   which  would  allow  the   Government  to
   reimburse  an employee  for the  cost  of an  accountant-prepared
   amended  tax return, even  where the agency's  error necessitated
   filing the amended return.  As  far as we are able to  determine,
   the same  situation exists with  respect to interest paid  to the
   IRS.  Regardless of the reasons that such costs were incurred, in
   the  absence of  authority, the  claims may not  be paid.   E.g.,
   Timothy P. Twigg, GSBCA 14453-TRAV, 98-2 BCA   29,841.
 
                                           _________________________
                                           ROBERT W. PARKER
                                           Board Judge