What amounts are allowable for meals?
See the Summary of Allowable Expenses for allowable amounts and the time frames eligible for reimbursement.

Are receipts required for meal expenses?

Receipts are only required when the amount of the meal is $75.00 or more. This limit would only be reached when paying for the meals of a group.

Am I allowed to claim the full "per diem" for meals, whether I spent that amount or not?

For domestic travel, only the actual amounts spent (subject to daily maximums) may be claimed for reimbursement. There is no "per diem" amount for domestic travel. If you did not spend the full amount, you should not claim the full amount.

However, for foreign travel, ISU allows the foreign per diem rates established by the U.S. State Department.

If I was in a very expensive location, how can I get reimbursed for the amount I spent in excess of the daily maximum?

The Web Travel System has specific meal limits, depending on whether the travel is in-state or out-of-state. Normally, your reimbursement should be capped to these specific limits. However, if there are extenuating circumstances, you can shift the meal expense to the Miscellaneous Expense - Other area, and specify in the Additional Comments box the reasons why you are requesting an exception. Purchasing meals for other persons for interviews is a common allowable exception.

On my Payroll Info on AccessPlus there was an amount recorded for "Taxable Meals." What does this mean?

Meals on trips not requiring overnight travel are required to be reported to the IRS as taxable income unless the primary purpose of the meal was to discuss business. The Web Travel System automatically records non-overnight meals as taxable. If the primary purpose of the meal was to discuss business, you can override the default setting by changing the taxable meals indicator for that meal to No, and stating the reason for the overriding the default setting in the Additional Comments box at the bottom of the screen.

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Last Updated: February 5, 2004