Hotel/Motel
Tax Changes effective July 1, 2009
According to information provided by the Iowa Department of Revenue,
effective July 1, 2009, the University of Iowa will now be
subject to and required to pay the following taxes:
- The
5% State Excise Tax applied to Hotel “sleeping” rooms. The
Iowa department of Revenue has clarified that this 5% tax is
an “excise” tax,
rather than a “sales” tax. Therefore,
while the University of Iowa and other state agencies continue
to be exempt from sales taxes for other purchases, they are not
exempt from this excise tax.
- The local
hotel/motel tax, which varies by locality. The rate for
Iowa City/Coralville is 7%.
The 6% Sales tax, the 5% Excise tax, and local hotel/motel taxes are
not applied to conference/banquet room rentals in the State
of Iowa, so you should not see these taxes on any hotel/event bills
that you receive. However, other items or services
associated with banquets, conferences or events such as audiovisual
equipment or catering are subject to the 6% state sales
tax when billed to the general public. The University
of Iowa remains exempt from these “sales” taxes. If
the 6% “sales” tax is applied to any billing that you
receive you must contact the hotel/conference center to have those
taxes removed from the bill.
For
more information, please refer to the Iowa Department of Revenue Hotel/Motel
Q& A or their Hotel/Motel
Tax Summary Page
Specific
questions may be directed to becky-schaffner@uiowa.edu |
***Swine
Flu News***
While there are no official restrictions on travel
at this time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) issued
a notice on 4/27/09, recommending that American citizens
avoid nonessential travel to Mexico at this time. University
travelers are encouraged to review the latest information and
to make informed decisions about what is best for them in light
of this information.
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ACCOUNTS
PAYABLE AND TRAVEL
E-Vouchers: All
e-vouchers, payable to outside vendors, must be completed through
workflow and all documentation submitted to Accounts Payable
and Travel, 202 PCO, no later than 4:30 p.m., June 29,
2009 to be processed in FY 08- 09. Vouchers processed
through June 30, 2009 will have checks issued with a date of
June 30, 2009. Questions concerning these dates may be
directed to the Accounts Payable and Travel Department, Karen
Housel at 5-0409.
ProTrav Travel Vouchers: Travel
Expense vouchers to be recorded in FY 08-09 for travel completed
prior to June 1 should be in the Accounts Payable and Travel
Department by June 8; this includes e-vouchers for travel. Please
keep in mind that it takes several days for a voucher to move
through all the channels of approval and arrive for processing.
Therefore, for travel already ended, this process should be started
immediately. For travel ending after June 1, the
voucher should be submitted immediately upon return if it is to
be processed this fiscal year. Unless travel is occurring in the
last week of June, all vouchers that must be processed this fiscal
year should be in the Accounts Payable and Travel Office no later
than June 15. For travel occurring after June 15, all vouchers
that must be processed for this fiscal year must be complete
thru workflow and all required documentation submitted to the
Accounts Payable and Travel Department no later than 4:30
p.m., June 29, 2009. Questions concerning these
dates may be directed to the Accounts Payable and Travel Department,
Karen Housel at 5-0409.
Procurement Card Vouchers:
The June billing cycle has been modified in order to accommodate
fiscal year spending.
Modified billing cycles:
June billing cycle: 05/28/09-06/15/09
July billing cycle: 06/16/09–07/27/09
Procurement card transactions that have a POST
date on or before 06/15/09 will be processed within FY 08-09. Note:
Post date is often days later than the actual transaction date.
It's the departments/cardholders responsibility to be sure they
are monitoring their account to be sure transactions that need
to post to this current fiscal year appear on their Procurement
Card Statement on or before 06/15/09.
June Procurement Card Vouchers complete
(approved through workflow) by 06/30/09 will post to
the accounts (Master File Keys) listed on the voucher.
Procurement Card Vouchers not complete
(still in workflow, voucher has an audit error, or voucher not
reconciled) by 6/30/09 will post to the cardholders’ "default" account.
The default entry can be reversed up until July 14, 09 once the
voucher has been approved in workflow and approved by the Accounts
Payable Department.
In order to accommodate year end posting during
07/01/09 and 07/13/09, the following journal ids will truncate
with an alpha character.
- 1PCRDFLT00 (Procurement Card Voucher default)
will post as 1PCRDFLT0A, 1PCRDFLTOB accordingly.
- 1PCRDREV00 (Default reversals), will post as
1PCRDREV0A, 1PCRDREVOB accordingly.
- 1WEPCARD1 (Regular Procurement Card Voucher)
will post as 1WEBPCARDA, 1WEBPCARDB accordingly.
If you have questions, please contact
Karen Housel 5-0409 or Sherry Reynolds-Miller 5-0656. |
TSA
implements new "Secure Flight" Program
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has implemented
a new security initiative, “Secure Flight”. Under
this program the Transportation Security Administration (TSA),
rather than individual airlines, will now perform the routine prescreening
of passenger information and matching passenger information against
federal government watch lists for domestic and international flights. The
airlines must provide all the necessary information, but the TSA
will perform the screening.
What does this mean for you? Regardless
of how you make reservations (through one of the University’s
Preferred Agencies, directly with the airline, or through an online
agency) you will now be required to provide the following information
at the time of booking:
- Passenger’s Full Name as stated
on your government issued identification
- Date of birth
- Gender
- Redress Number (if applicable) - this
is a unique number that DHS assigns to individuals who have
made inquiries or sought resolution for difficulties experienced
during travel screenings.
- Known Traveler Number (if applicable)
- this is a unique number that will be assigned to “known travelers” for
whom the Federal Government has already conducted a threat
assessment and determined that they do not pose a security
threat. This is a future program, yet to be defined and implemented.
*While the TSA requires airlines to begin providing
this information effective May 1, 2009, airlines and agencies are
requesting this information now for flights that will occur after
May 1st.
Why is this change being made? It is hoped
that this change will:
- Decrease the chance for compromised watch list data by limiting
its distribution
- Provide earlier identification of potential matches, allowing
for expedited notification of law enforcement and threat management
- Provide a fair, equitable, and consistent matching process
across all airlines
- Reduce instances of misidentified individuals
- Offer consistent application of an expedited and integrated
redress process for misidentified individuals.
For more information about this program see the TSA
Secure Flight Web page and particularly the Travelers link
on this page. |
Meal
Guidelines - New!
- Actual meal expenses should be claimed and may not exceed the
daily allowance for each destination.
- International and domestic out of state meal allowances are
based upon federal government guidelines, except that the UI
allowances are never less than $40/day for out of state locations. Meal
allowance for the travel within the state of Iowa is $31/day. All
rates are available on the Domestic
Travel Web Page.
- Meal tips should be included in the meal claim and may not
be claimed as a separate expense.
- Claims up to the full maximum are allowed on full days of travel
- On partial days of travel, allowances are prorated based upon
departure and return times as defined below, allowing 20 % of
the daily allowance for breakfast, 30% for lunch, and 50% for
dinner. These individual allotments are defined for the purpose
of determining the correct daily allowance only. Individual
meal claims do not have to fall within these specific meal parameters. Actual
costs can be distributed among the meals in any manner as long
as the total claim for each day does not exceed the maximum allowance
for that day.
- Meal costs over the maximum allowance are at the traveler’s
expense.
- Alcohol is not a reimbursable travel expense.
- Attach a receipt for any individual meal claim of $75 or more.
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Mileage Rate Decrease
In keeping with the Federal Government
GSA reimbursement rates, the University’s mileage reimbursement
rate of .585/mile will be lowered to .55, effective 1/1/2009. The
Federal GSA and University reimbursement rate of .285 is not changing
at this time. The .285 rate is applicable for trips
of more than 100 miles if the traveler chooses to use a personal
vehicle when a motor pool vehicle was available.
The correct rates will default into your
Travel expense voucher in ProTrav based upon your dates of travel
and miles traveled. The
applicable mileage rates for various dates of travel may also be
viewed on the travel website www.uiowa.edu/~fustd/travel/Domestic%20Travel/domestic_travel.htm#Mileage.
Questions regarding this policy change may be directed
to protrav@uiowa.edu. |
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The
following travel policy changes have been approved and are effective
immediately:
Receipt Requirement Raised
The receipt requirement threshold is increased to
$75 for all travel expenses except airfare, rental car, hotel, train,
and conference registration. This applies to domestic and international
travel. An electronic or paper receipt is always required for these
specific expenses, regardless of the cost. When business meals are
claimed on a travel voucher, all of the requirements, documentation,
and justifications outlined in the Food and Beverage policy still
apply even if the expense is below the receipt requirement.
Hotel Allowances Raised
The university’s maximum allowance for hotels for
domestic travel is: a) the conference site/headquarter hotel rate;
b) another hotel equal to or less than the conference hotel; or
c) up to 200% of the federal government allowance for the specified
destination.
Questions may be directed to any of the
following contacts:
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International
Travel Tips-New Visa requirements; vaccination information
The following information is provided to help you
prepare in advance for your next business or personal travel outside
the United States.
New Visa Requirements
Beginning on January 8, 2007, ALL persons, including
U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada,
Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda will
be required to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS card, or U.S.
Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document.
For more complete information on US government document
requirements for international travel please refer to the following
websites:
Health Requirements/Information
Information about health risks associated with travel
to specific destinations and about immunizations that are required
or recommended is available at the websites provided below. This
information and that provided by University travel agencies is provided
as a guideline only, and to inform you of government requirements.
Please remember to consult your
own health care provider for the most up to date information about
the exact location to which you are traveling and for recommendations
specific to your individual health care needs.
If you wish to have one place bookmarked for all
of this information, it is posted on the University of Iowa Travel
Page under the International
Travel Link.
Questions or comments may be directed to becky-schaffner@uiowa.edu.
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Upper
Level Report/Review Now Available in ProTrav:
ProTrav offers an “Upper Level” role to facilitate
administrative review of Procurement Card and Travel related expenses.
Reviews can be done at a cardholder, traveler, department or organizational
level. Individual with budgetary responsibilities, Deans, Directors,
Department heads, and other supervisory staff could likely benefit
from this type of access to travel and pcard data. If you or others
in your department could use this type of information to better
perform your job duties, please complete the access
request form.
For more information about this role click here
or contact protrav@uiowa.edu
with questions. |
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Purchase of Airline Tickets
The University Procurement Card should
only be used to purchase tickets for University employees and/or
for individuals that are traveling on behalf of the University.
It may not be used to purchase tickets for family members accompanying
University business travelers. Because this is a personal expense,
such a purchase is considered misuse of the card.
The cardholder agreement states: “The
cardholder may not make personal charges on the card. Personal expenses
processed on The University of Iowa Procurement Card are in violation
of the Procurement Card guidelines. Flagrant misuse may result in
payroll deduction, card revocation and the Cardholder’s termination.”
The payroll deduct function should
only be used when reimbursement for an expenses has been received
from a third party and for deduction of expenses that are disallowed
by the department or policy. Repeated purchases of “disallowed”
charges are also considered misuse of the card. The payroll deduct
feature should never be used as a tool to allow personal or disallowed
expenses on the procurement card.
Your procurement card should be kept
on campus in a secured location except when you are in travel status
or making University purchases at a local merchant. You should keep
the card in a secured place instead of in your billfold or purse
to prevent the mistaken use of the card for personal purchases.
Stating that a cardholder provided the wrong card when making a
purchase is not a justifiable reason for misuse of the card or payroll
deduct feature. Repeated occurrences may result in the revocation
of the card.
If you have questions or comments about
this announcement, please contact Sherri Dusenbery directly at sherri-dusenbery@uiowa.edu.
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New Release for ProTrav
Non-UI Acknowledgement Form
ProTrav now offers three options
for obtaining a Non UI traveler’s signature, or approval, of travel
expenses:
-
Send an email to the traveler.
Click the “send to traveler for review” button, enter the traveler’s
email and wait for the traveler’s email response.
-
-
Send an email to yourself. Click
on “Submit to Traveler” button and enter your own email address.
Then print the form that is created and send it to the traveler
via mail or fax for their signature, or have the traveler sign
it in person while they are here.
Regardless of which method you choose,
you must attach the traveler’s signature/approval
to the TEV cover sheet and send along with any required receipts
to the Travel Office, 202 PCO. You must also go back into the
TEV and click on the “Submit to Workflow” button
to route for your department’s approval and send on to the Travel
office for processing.
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Cash Advance
Policy Reminder
“Prepaid”
advances for airfare and hotel deposits charged to personal
credit cards are not allowed. These expenses should be charged
to Departmental or individual UI Procurement Cards. If a traveler
chooses to use a personal card for such purchases, they must
wait until after the trip is over to be reimbursed.
-
Standard
cash advances are limited to UI students and employees earning
less than $50,000. UI employees earning more than $50,000 may
obtain cash advances only for foreign travel and/or for domestic
travel exceeding 14 days.
-
Cash advances
for non-UI persons traveling on UI business should be limited
to food allowances for the specified number of days of travel
only. These should be requested only in special circumstances
where the individual has no other reasonable means to cover
these costs. All other expenses such as airfare, hotel, shuttle
service, etc should be paid directly to the vendor via the Procurement
Card or E-voucher.
Please forward
this information to all travelers in your department. It is particularly
important to get this information to graduate students who have
upcoming travel, as they may be unfamiliar with UI travel policy
and payment options. Please provide them with the information
necessary to purchase their airfare with departmental procurement
cards. If you have questions please email becky-schaffner@uiowa.edu
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