last updated: Thursday, September 2, 2004
SUNY employees are often required to travel away from their campus in the performance of their official duties. In accordance with State laws, rules, and regulations, employees are considered in travel status when they are on an approved assignment at a work location more than 35 miles from both home and official station. This determines that they may be eligible for reimbursement of travel expenses such as meals and lodging.
Within State laws, rules, and regulations and any agreements between the State and a collective negotiating agent, SUNY and its campuses may define the policies and procedures for requesting and being authorized for travel and for travel reimbursement including any special requirements for domestic out-of-state travel or foreign travel.
When employees are required/authorized to use their own vehicle for travel they are reimbursed for required travel miles at a mileage rate negotiated in the collective negotiating agreement that covers their title. Such mileage rate will not usually exceed the mileage reimbursement rate authorized as "non-taxable" by the Interanl Revenue Service. However, if a negotiated mileage rate should exceed the IRS rate, or any other travel reimbursement exceeds the IRS limit, the excess will be reported as income to the IRS and will be reflected in the employee's year-end earnings reports for income tax purposes.
When authorized for official
travel employees should obtain copies of New York State Department of Taxation
and Finance form ST-129 (Exemption Certificate - Tax on occupancy of hotel
rooms) to provide to hotels or motels who provide lodging. The State of
New York is exempt from paying itself taxes on goods and services purchased
in New York State including lodging. While form AC946 (Tax Exemption Certificate)
is still accepted as an exemption certificate for lodging, it is more appropriately
used for the purchase of other products and services and, since the ST-129 was
designed specifically for travel, it offers more protection for the State agency
at which the traveler is employed, for the traveler, and for the vendor providing
the lodging. A copy of the appropriate exemption certificate for occupancy of
hotel rooms (ST-129) is available from the list of links under forms at the
end of this section.
[Note: It is important to tax form ST-129 with you even for out-of-state
travel because some states honor the form and will exempt NYS employees from
their state lodging taxes.]
Travel, including the source of the funds for reimbursement, must be approved in advance of the travel in accordance with the policies and procedures in effect at a particular campus. While the Travel Guide and other resources in the reference at the end of this section and provisions of the appropriate collective negotiating agreement may answer a lot of questions, employees and others with a need/desire to know about travel approval procedures must contact the appropriate office/officer at the particular campus of interest.
Reference(s):
Collective Negotiating
Unit Agreements (look for Mileage Allowance or Travel after linking to the
appropriate agreement)
http://www.goer.state.ny.us/CNA/bucenter/index.html
New York
State Travel Information (NYS Office of the State Comptroller)
http://nysosc3.osc.state.ny.us/agencies/travel/newindex.htm
SUNY
Travel Policy and Procedures (Section 090 - SUNY Policies and Procedures
Manual)
http://www.suny.edu/FinanceandBusiness/FBAdmProc.cfm
Travel
Manual for New York State Agencies (NYS Office of the State Comptroller)
http://nysosc3.osc.state.ny.us/agencies/travel/manual.htm
Travelers
Guide for New York State Agency Employees (prepared by the Bureau of State
Expenditures and posted to OSC's website)
http://www.osc.state.ny.us/agencies/travel/guide.htm
Form(s):
Contact campus Purchasing/Procurement Services Office for local campus travel request/approval forms.
Exemption Certificate
from NYS taxes for lodging (also honored by some other states) (ST-129
10/129) (PDF non fill-in) or (PDF
fill-in)
Non fill-in PDF also available at: http://nysosc3.osc.state.ny.us/agencies/travel/taxexempt.pdf
Statement of Automobile Travel (AC160 revised 4/82) (PDF fill-in)
Travel Voucher (AC132-A)-
NYS (MSWord fill-in) or (PDF
non fill-in)
http://nysosc3.osc.state.ny.us/agencies/travel/ac132-a.pdf
last updated:
Thursday, September 2, 2004