Courtesy photo

Congress recently voted to eliminate flat rate per diem for travel beginning Aug. 13; all members will now be entitled to standard per diem rates no matter the length of their temporary duty travel.

The President signed the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2019, which includes an immediate repeal of the authority to prescribe a reduced flat rate per diem for long-term TDYs.

In line with the updated policy, as of midnight Aug. 12, flat rate per diem has been terminated and normal per diem rules apply, including the following:

• Lodging receipts are required for all lodging payments
• The actual cost of lodging not to exceed the full locality lodging per diem rate will be paid
• The full meals and incidental expense will no longer be reduced by 75 or 55 percent

For additional information regarding this update, visit https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Portals/10/CG-1/PPC/TRAVEL/FlatRatePerDiemTermFAQ.pdf?ver=2018-08-17-115612-687.