GSA raises mileage reimbursement rate for federal employees

The General Services Administration on Monday followed a recent Internal Revenue Service announcement by raising the mileage reimbursement rate for government employees using their personal vehicles on the job to 58.5 cents per mile.

The mileage reimbursement rate, previously 50.5 cents per mile, is used to calculate the deductible costs of operating a personal vehicle for business purposes. The IRS determines the maximum rate allowed as a business deduction and GSA sets the reimbursement rate, which cannot exceed the IRS limit, for federal employees. The rate typically is set annually, but the IRS made an unusual midyear adjustment in late June in response to high gas prices.

"With the higher costs of gas, I am pleased that GSA was able to move swiftly on increasing mileage reimbursements on the heels of the Internal Revenue Service announcement," said Kevin Messner, acting associate administrator of GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy.

While legally GSA's rate cannot exceed the IRS rate, the two figures generally mirror one another. The IRS contracts out the calculation of per-mile costs of operating a privately owned vehicle. GSA's Federal Register notice of the reimbursement rate change cited "a recent investigation" which found the per-mile cost to be 58.5 cents.

The GSA rate for federal employees will be effective Aug. 1; the IRS rate went into effect July 1.

Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which has called repeatedly for the adjustment, welcomed GSA's announcement, but expressed disappointment that the new rate was not retroactive to July 1, as the union had urged.

Kelley said the union is supporting efforts that would make future adjustments for federal employees automatically match the IRS rate, eliminating any delay caused by the need for GSA action. The delays affect a vast number of federal employees and NTEU members who log as many as tens of thousands of miles each year for business purposes, Kelley said. She cited bank and credit union examiners at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Treasury Department's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the National Credit Union Administration as examples.

"Federal employees should not have to pay out of pocket to do their jobs. The reimbursement rate should adequately reflect workers' costs so they do not have to subsidize the federal government," Kelley said.

Messner referenced the proposed change as well, saying it would allow GSA "to automatically match IRS rate changes and reduce redundancy and expedite the process."

The union has endorsed S.3032, introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., which would raise the rate to 70 cents per mile for both private sector and federal employees.