Senators Scold IRS on Travel Expenses

In a report released by the Senate Finance Committee, Republicans touted the need for Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees to better follow federal guidelines and per diem rates.

“Committee staff saw example after example of routine Amtrak Acela trips, black car service and luxury apartment rentals when reviewing IRS employee travel vouchers,” said Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT). “Furthermore, the IRS made woefully insufficient efforts to reduce expenses in ways that would still allow employees to travel comfortably.”

Last May, senators began raising questions regarding travel in several federal agencies, prompting a review of the IRS’s fiscal 2015 travel. It was found that 27 IRS employees traveled 125 business days or more throughout the year, with the total cost over $1.4 million.

Additionally, the senators noted that failure to review and reduce per diem rates violates the General Services Administration’s Federal Travel Regulation and the IRS’ own Internal Revenue Manual.

“If the IRS would follow its own internal guidance without exception and institute best practices from other agencies, it could see significant cost savings among all employees who travel for significant amounts of time during the year, not just those traveling for more than half of the year,” stated the report.