New PCS Mileage Rate (Again)

I wrote a blog back in March about the reduction in PCS mileage rates which went down from 20 cents a mile to 19 while gas prices were climbing rapidly towards $4 a gallon! Well, we are over $4 a gallon now and someone at the IRS finally saw the light and is changing the rate for moving and medical appointments. In a story I read recently
the IRS commissioner stated that Moving and Medical appointment rates were changing to 27 cents a mile and business travel would be 58.5 cents a mile. The changes will be implemented as early as July 1st. I am sure it will take a while for the military financial system to catch up but good news for our service men and women and their families who already sacrifice so much for their country! No reason exists for them to pay more out of pocket while traveling on government orders!

Sometimes things can just be downright confusing when we try to find our way across the country to that next PCS dream spot! Just like this little guy trying to decide which fork to take in the trail!

Just as confusing are some of the government decisions on how much to pay us for PCS travel. With the current gas prices going towards $4 a gallon, the PCS mileage rate for your POV (privately owned vehicle) has gone down from $.20 a mile to $.19 a mile effective 1 January 2008. This is according to the latest information from the DoD Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Allowance Committee in a 17 March 2008 memo. According to the memo which I have linked below for your reading pleasure the GSA sets the mileage based on an IRS rate! So someone in the IRS portion of our government must not be driving a car but riding the metro or slugging it in DC.

If you do not know what a slug is I will provide a brief explanation: Many folks wait at bus stops and other locations in the DC suburbs for a ride to work and drivers stop to pick them up so they can get enough passengers in the car to meet the requirements of a high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane in order get to their offices quicker and more efficiently. So my suggestion is that the IRS has a bunch of slugs who never fill up a tank of gas so they don’t know that the price of gas is going way up and has continued to go up for a few years!

Here is the link to the DoD memo for PCS Mileage Rates . So when the military member files their travel voucher after a successful trip across the US they will be seeing a bit less in their pocket book than last year!

I hope you found this informative and we always appreciate comments and helpful hints so shoot to me or at me (just don’t audit me please) and I hope you have a wonderful and safe PCS travel this spring or summer! byColonel KonWednesday, June 25, 2008Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest