When you return from your trip, you or the designated person in your DLC must submit a travel expense report with the required documentation, receipts, cost object, and trip purpose to the person in your DLC who is responsible for creating the expense report. The report must be submitted in Concur within 60 days of your return. The purpose of the report is to request reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses and to reconcile charges made on the MIT Travel Card. See detailed instructions in the Concur Guide for Submitters, the Concur Quick Guide, and Concur Guide for Approvers.
Some miscellaneous expenses are reimbursable by MIT, but not under sponsored projects. Other expenses are not reimbursable under any circumstances. Before completing the travel expense report, review steps in Avoid Common Expensing Mistakes and review MIT Travel Policy Section 5.05- Miscellaneous Expenses to learn which charges are reimbursable.
You may fly business class (or first class if business class service is not offered) for all international travel, excluding Canada.
For travel in the U.S. and Canada, you may fly business class (or first class if business class isn't offered) if the trip meets any one of the following conditions:
- Your scheduled in-air flying time of a one-way direct or non-stop flight exceeds six hours.
- Your scheduled in-air flying time of a flight with multiple legs totals more than six hours from origin to destination.
- For roundtrip travel, one of the above requirements must apply to at least one way of travel in order to fly business class in both directions. For example, business class is allowed for a roundtrip Boston-Los Angeles flight even if only one way exceeds six hours.
The cost of business class or first class may not be charged to sponsored projects. Instead, document the lowest available coach fare by providing a comparable itinerary showing the lowest available coach rate at the time of booking, and charge that amount to the sponsored project. Then subtract that coach fare from the actual cost of your business class/first class ticket and charge the difference to a non-sponsored discretionary cost object.
See the 3.03 Air Travel section of the MIT Travel Policy.
Food and beverage expenses for business meetings must be charged to General Ledger Account #421000 (Meetings—Food and Beverages). Alcoholic beverages for all travel, regardless of the purpose, must be segregated and charged to a non-sponsored discretionary cost object.
If you use your personal car for MIT business, MIT will reimburse you for miles traveled, based on the current IRS mileage rate. The current rate for 2023 is 65.5 cents per mile.
Do not submit receipts for gasoline purchases.
In Concur, choose expense type: "Mileage". Enter the addresses of your route. Concur will show the miles traveled and calculate the expense based on IRS rates. You can choose "Round Trip" and the entire trip will be mapped and calculated.
If, despite your best efforts, you have been unable to obtain an itemized receipt, the expense should be charged to “non-recoverable expense” and allocated to a non-sponsored cost object. To charge such an expense to a sponsored cost object, you must obtain approval from the sponsor or from Research Administration Services (RAS). Make sure to submit a completed Missing Receipt Affidavit in place of the missing receipt.
When you submit your travel expense report, it will be routed to the appropriate cost object approver(s) for review and approval. Your out-of-pocket travel expenses (including mileage if you used your personal car for transportation) will be reimbursed via direct deposit to the same bank account you have on record with HR/Payroll.
If you submit a travel expense report to reimburse a guest or visitor for travel expenses, the visitor will be reimbursed by check. See Reimburse a Visitor for Travel Expenses for instructions.
The Details
When you return from your trip, you or the designated person in your DLC must submit a travel expense report with the required documentation, receipts, cost object, and trip purpose to the person in your DLC who is responsible for creating the expense report. The report must be submitted in Concur within 60 days of your return. The purpose of the report is to request reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses and to reconcile charges made on the MIT Travel Card. See detailed instructions in the Concur Guide for Submitters, the Concur Quick Guide, and Concur Guide for Approvers.
Some miscellaneous expenses are reimbursable by MIT, but not under sponsored projects. Other expenses are not reimbursable under any circumstances. Before completing the travel expense report, review steps in Avoid Common Expensing Mistakes and review MIT Travel Policy Section 5.05- Miscellaneous Expenses to learn which charges are reimbursable.
You may fly business class (or first class if business class service is not offered) for all international travel, excluding Canada.
For travel in the U.S. and Canada, you may fly business class (or first class if business class isn't offered) if the trip meets any one of the following conditions:
- Your scheduled in-air flying time of a one-way direct or non-stop flight exceeds six hours.
- Your scheduled in-air flying time of a flight with multiple legs totals more than six hours from origin to destination.
- For roundtrip travel, one of the above requirements must apply to at least one way of travel in order to fly business class in both directions. For example, business class is allowed for a roundtrip Boston-Los Angeles flight even if only one way exceeds six hours.
The cost of business class or first class may not be charged to sponsored projects. Instead, document the lowest available coach fare by providing a comparable itinerary showing the lowest available coach rate at the time of booking, and charge that amount to the sponsored project. Then subtract that coach fare from the actual cost of your business class/first class ticket and charge the difference to a non-sponsored discretionary cost object.
See the 3.03 Air Travel section of the MIT Travel Policy.
Food and beverage expenses for business meetings must be charged to General Ledger Account #421000 (Meetings—Food and Beverages). Alcoholic beverages for all travel, regardless of the purpose, must be segregated and charged to a non-sponsored discretionary cost object.
If you use your personal car for MIT business, MIT will reimburse you for miles traveled, based on the current IRS mileage rate. The current rate for 2023 is 65.5 cents per mile.
Do not submit receipts for gasoline purchases.
In Concur, choose expense type: "Mileage". Enter the addresses of your route. Concur will show the miles traveled and calculate the expense based on IRS rates. You can choose "Round Trip" and the entire trip will be mapped and calculated.
If, despite your best efforts, you have been unable to obtain an itemized receipt, the expense should be charged to “non-recoverable expense” and allocated to a non-sponsored cost object. To charge such an expense to a sponsored cost object, you must obtain approval from the sponsor or from Research Administration Services (RAS). Make sure to submit a completed Missing Receipt Affidavit in place of the missing receipt.
When you submit your travel expense report, it will be routed to the appropriate cost object approver(s) for review and approval. Your out-of-pocket travel expenses (including mileage if you used your personal car for transportation) will be reimbursed via direct deposit to the same bank account you have on record with HR/Payroll.
If you submit a travel expense report to reimburse a guest or visitor for travel expenses, the visitor will be reimbursed by check. See Reimburse a Visitor for Travel Expenses for instructions.
