TASA Policy on Reimbursement of TASA Executive Travel

TASA Policy on reimbursement of TASA Executive travel

TASA Executive Committee members are entitled to claim expenses arising from travel to face-to-face executive meetings. To ensure reimbursement, Executive members are required to act in accordance with the following procedures.

July face-to-face Meetings

• The midyear face-to-face meeting will occur in the city with the largest number of Executive members and staff, unless determined otherwise by the executive with a minimum of 6 months’ notice.

• Accommodation

• Executive Members residing outside the city where the face-to-face meeting is held are entitled to have accommodation paid for by TASA
• Executive Members residing in major cities might only require 1 night’s accommodation, whereas Executive Members needing connecting flights might require 2 nights or possibly 3 nights. This shall be determined in consultation by affected executive members with the secretary.
• Accommodation will be booked by and paid for directly through the TASA Office by the Executive Officer. Please notify the TASA Office, as soon as possible, of any changes in your requirements so that the EO can attempt to change the accommodation booking and avoid additional costs to TASA
• Accommodation costs will be in accordance with the suggested rate for the meeting location as outlined in the most current Australian Tax Office, Taxation Determination. It is up to executive members to be familiar with the rates and cover any costs in excess of the ATO determination for the city the meeting is occurring in. TASA executive members are not employed or earn an income from TASA – therefore they go by the lowest income bracket in the determination.
• The Executive Member will usually be required to provide a credit card for security against the mini-bar and other expenses on check-in; these charges are to be met by the Executive Member when checking out of the hotel

• Travel

• Executive members are responsible for organizing their own travel arrangements to attend face-to-face Executive meetings, except when an alternative arrangement is determined by the TASA executive with a minimum of 6 months’ notice.
• TASA will only cover costs for travel within Australia to and from the person’s usual area of residence. If the usual residence is outside of Australia, the amount of reimbursement for travel shall be determined by the Executive Officer in consultation with the senior executive.
• Executive members are entitled to claim all transport costs including plane fares, and transfers to and from airports, hotels and the meeting venue
• Only economy airfares will be reimbursed. If an executive member wants to fly business/first class they would need to upgrade at their own expense.
• Executive members must make use of public transport for airport transfers where it is available, cost effective and time efficient.
• The executive may determine a maximum reimbursement amount per flight (dependent on where the executive member is located) with a minimum of 6 months’ notice in order to ensure costs are kept at a minimum.
• If the Executive member needs to claim a mileage reimbursement based on the use of a private vehicle, he/she is required to complete Mileage Claim Form (request from TASA Office) and submit the form to the TASA Executive Officer for processing. Executive members can only claim for car travel to and from executive meetings if they reside within the state of the meeting and/or it is less expensive than plane/public transportation and time efficient. Car parking at their accommodation will be reimbursed if applicable and this should be taken into account when working out if private car travel is less expensive than other means.

November face-to-face Executive Meeting

• The November face-to-face executive meeting will take place in the city of the annual conference unless determined otherwise by the executive with a minimum of six months’ notice.

• For the November Executive Meeting, Executive Members are responsible for booking their own transport and accommodation, except when an alternative arrangement is determined by executive with a minimum of 6 months’ notice.

• Accommodation

• When the face-to-face meeting occurs during the annual TASA conference, TASA will cover costs of the one night of accommodation necessary for the attendance at the Executive Meeting, unless it is determined by the executive that a second night is necessary.
• Reimbursement of accommodation costs will be in accordance with the suggested rate for the meeting location as outlined in the Australian Tax Office, Taxation Determination. It is up to executive members to be familiar with the rates and cover any costs in excess of the ATO determination for the city the meeting is occurring in. TASA executive members are not employed or earn an income from TASA – therefore they go by the lowest income bracket in the determination.

• Travel

• Travel to attend the conference can be claimed as ‘travel to attend a face-to-face Executive Meeting’, although if alternative funding sources are available (such as from a University), it would be appreciated if these could be used to minimize TASA costs.
• TASA will only cover costs for travel within Australia to and from the person’s usual area of residence. If the usual residence is outside of Australia, the amount of reimbursement for travel shall be determined by the Executive Officer in consultation with the senior executive.
• Only economy airfares will be reimbursed. If an executive member wants to fly business/first class they would need to upgrade at their own expense.
• Executive members are entitled to claim all transport costs including plane fares, and transfers to and from airports, hotels and the meeting venue
• Executive members must make use of public transport for airport transfers where it is available, cost effective and time efficient.
• The executive may determine a maximum reimbursement amount per flight (dependent on where the executive member is located) with a minimum of 6 months’ notice in order to ensure costs are kept at a minimum.
• If the Executive member needs to claim a mileage reimbursement based on the use of a private vehicle, he/she is required to complete Mileage Claim Form (request from TASA Office) and submit the form to the TASA Executive Officer for processing. Executive members can only claim for car travel to and from executive meetings if they reside within the state of the meeting and/or it is less expensive than plane/public transportation and time efficient. Car parking at their accommodation will be reimbursed if applicable and this should be taken into account when working out if private car travel is less expensive than other means.

TASA Conference

• TASA does not cover the expense of conference registration or conference-related accommodation. Although desirable, conference attendance is not a requirement of TASA Executive Committee members.

Claims

• All travel claims should be emailed to the TASA Executive Officer using the TASA travel claim form (see below) with scanned original tax invoices attached
• To assist with TASA’s bookkeeping records, claims must be submitted within three months of the meeting: claims submitted after this time will not be accepted.

TASA Policy on reimbursement of TASA Staff travel for executive meetings / and Annual Conferences

Face-to-face executive meetings

• When staff are required to travel for an executive meeting in a city other than that where the TASA office is located:
• They are entitled to have accommodation paid for by TASA. Accommodation costs will be in accordance with the suggested rate for the meeting location as outlined in the Australian Tax Office, Taxation Determination.
• They entitled to claim for incidentals, and meal allowances (where meals are not already supplied) in accordance with the ATO Taxation Determination for the day(s) of the executive meeting.
• TASA will only cover costs for travel within Australia, to and from the person’s usual area of residence. Staff are entitled to claim all transport costs including plane fares, and transfers to and from airports, hotels and the meeting venue.
• Only economy airfares will be reimbursed. If a staff member wants to fly business/first class they would need to upgrade at their own expense.
• Staff must make use of public transport for airport transfers where it is available, cost effective and time efficient.
• The executive may determine a maximum reimbursement amount per flight (dependent on where the staff member is located) in order to ensure costs are kept at a minimum.

TASA Conference

• When staff are required to travel for the annual conference in a city other than that where the TASA office is located:
• They are entitled to have accommodation paid for by TASA for the duration of the conference. Accommodation costs will be in accordance with the suggested rate for the meeting location as outlined in the Australian Tax Office, Taxation Determination.
• They entitled to claim for incidentals, and meal allowances (where meals are not already supplied such as conference lunches and the annual dinner) in accordance with the ATO Taxation Determination for the day(s) of the TASA conference.
• TASA will only cover costs for travel within Australia, to and from the person’s usual area of residence. Staff are entitled to claim all transport costs including plane fares, and transfers to and from airports, hotels and the meeting venue.
• Only economy airfares will be reimbursed. If a staff member wants to fly business/first class they would need to upgrade at their own expense.
• Staff must make use of public transport for airport transfers where it is available, cost effective and time efficient.
• The executive may determine a maximum reimbursement amount per flight (dependent on where the executive member is located) in order to ensure costs are kept at a minimum.

Claims

• All travel claims should be sent to the TASA Executive Officer using the TASA travel claim form (see below) with all original tax invoices attached. If the staff member making the claim is the Executive Officer the claim must be sent to the Treasurer using the TASA travel claim form (see below) with all original tax invoices attached.
• To assist with TASA’s bookkeeping records, claims must be submitted within three months of the meeting: claims submitted after this time will not be accepted.

INVOICE FOR REIMBURSEMENT

1. DETAILS

NAME:

Account Name:

BSB No.

Account No.

2. ITEMS FOR REIMBURSEMENT

3. SIGNATURE

The above allowances are claimed and were incurred exclusively in the course of TASA business. I have attached the *original tax invoices to this claim form.

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SIGNATURE

Adopted policy of 17 March 2017