Allowable Packing and Freight Costs of Household Effects
Allowable packing/freight costs are actual and necessary expenses incurred for packing, insurance, transportation, storage in transit (not to exceed 30 calendar days), unpacking and installation of the employee's household effects at the new location. Invoices or original receipts must properly support such expenses. (Definition - Storage in transit is only storage while on the truck as it travels from point of pickup directly to the destination.) Any exception to policies noted below must be obtained in advance of incurring liability. Please contact the CSE MSO to discuss your exception needs and he will prepare a letter to the Senior Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs requesting approval. Your explanation to justify an exception is an important part of the correspondence to the Vice Chancellor.

Household effects include: household or personal effects such as furniture, clothing, musical instruments, household appliances, foods and other items which are usual and necessary for the maintenance of a household. A personal library will be considered as part of the household effects, subject to the provided allowable maximum total reimbursable moving expense.

Household effects do not include: automobiles; other motor vehicles, farm tractors, implements and equipment; livestock; trailers with or without property; boats; animals raised for profit by the employee; belongings which are not the property of the immediate family of the employee; belongings related to commercial enterprises engaged in by the employee; fuels, bricks, sand or ceramic tile; wire fence or other building materials; or other waste paper or rags.

Freight costs include the total charges for transporting household effects from point of origin to the point of destination. Associated charges include the cost of packing containers, labor and insurance on household effects from the point of origin to the point of destination.

Freight costs do not include: Storage costs and additional transportation and handling charges due to delays caused by the employee at the point of origin or point of destination. This would include those cases where an employee is unable to designate a delivery address and the household effects must be delivered from the carrier's closest storage area at a later date.

At the time one requests an exception to policy to pay for storage costs one may also request to include the expense of removing these items from storage and moving them to a permanent address (as long as this additional expense does not exceed the allowable reimbursement for the waiver).

Procedure for Initiating Moving Process
A purchase order developed by UCSD's Purchasing Office is the only approved method of obtaining transportation services for household effects, including moves/removals originating in a foreign country. In addition, you must use the University provided carrier contracted via the purchase order. This affords you the following advantages:

1. Employee is not required to pay entire cost of relocation out-of-pocket in order to obtain delivery of household belongings at destination.
2. Arrangements with the contract moving company are made by the Purchasing Division, easing the overall moving burden for a new employee.
3. The Purchasing Division communicates with the employee at the onset, providing appropriate instructions.
4. The contract moving company looks to the University as a valued corporate account; making it reasonable to assume that the company will be more responsive to the new employee, both before and after the move.
5. While responsibility for completing and filing of claims remains with the individual, the Purchasing Division will advise, assist and intercede on behalf of the employee if a dispute arises.
6. All moves are insured. Detailed information is available from the Purchasing Division.

Upon receipt of the purchase requisition, Purchasing will correspond with the new employee providing household move information and the name, address and telephone number of the moving representative handling the transaction. Purchasing will also contact the carrier and request the agent contact the new employee.

Transportation and Meals
Transportation costs include: one-way air coach transportation for employee and immediate family or an equivalent amount for other travel in accordance with standard airline fare policies and University Travel Regulations. (Policy Procedure Manual [PPM] 365-2)

Meal costs include: meals en route for employee and immediate family in accordance with University Travel Regulations. If travel is by automobile (see below), the cost of meals in an allowable expense only to the extent that might have been necessary if travel had been by air coach (PPM365-3)

If faculty chooses to drive, instead of fly:

1. The University can only reimburse the person $.09/mile (as opposed to $.24). Apparently this is an IRS regulation, and anything above that constitutes income.
2. The University will pay what ever is less (airfare or auto mileage + hotel + food). If airfare is less expensive than driving however the faculty member prefers to drive and requests to be reimbursed for driving expenses, we need to obtain an exception.
3. Alternatively, it is allowable to pay one-way airfare in lieu of mileage, for both the faculty recruit and spouse.

Tax Liability
The Tax Reform Act of 1969 requires the University to report reimbursements to employees for moving and removal expenses to the IRS. In addition, the form, Employee Moving/Removal Expense Information, will be issued to the employee by January 31sr proceeding the end of the calendar tax year. The Accounting Office will report all such payments as required for reporting to the IRS and will furnish the appropriate social security number for identification of the employee. It is the employee's responsibility to account for these payments on their income tax return and be prepared with adequate documentation and receipts to offset these payments to the limit of the law.