Presentation Transcript

1. International Travel Training

   OSP Coffee Break: August 24, 2010 Presented by: Lisa Cotanch, CPA, Director of Tax Reporting
2. Overview The University has a requirement to report “foreign activities” to the IRS This is the IRS’s way of saying that the University has to break down international travel by region(s) We have created new account codes that correspond to the IRS’s region for all costs related to foreign travel, including transportation, lodging, meals and conference registration costs
3. What is “foreign activity”? Any University activity that is conducted in a foreign country on a sponsored, non-sponsored, gift, University or other Chartstring. Including but not limited to, conferences, research travel and travel for scholarly, athletic , educational, business and other University related matters This includes long and short term foreign activity SU Abroad records their own foreign activities Basically, if the University or sponsor is paying for the foreign activity on any Chartstring, it needs to be recorded in the proper account code(s)
4. To whom does this apply? This applies to every person who travels to a foreign country on University, restricted or sponsored funds: All employees (faculty, staff, full time, part time, temporary, casual, etc.) All students (matriculated, non-matriculated, full-time, part-time, undergrad, grad, doctoral, post-doc, etc.) Non-employees including consultants, board members, trustees, speakers, candidates for faculty, staff or board positions, sub-contractors Student athletes, enrolled or at any point in the athletic recruitment process
5. What countries does this cover? The short answer is ALL foreign countries, including our sister North American countries of Canada & Mexico The IRS does not require that the University break down travel to any US states, territories or possessions, including, but not limited to, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands and Samoa
6. What are “activities”, anyway? At this time, the University will report to the IRS the two foreign activities below: Conference registration Travel including, but is not limited to: Airfare Ground transportation (train, taxi, subway, rickshaw, pony express, hot air balloon, etc.) Vehicle rental, lease, fuel costs, mileage Lodging (hotel, hostel, B&B, park bench, etc.) Meals and snacks (food purchased for consumption while en route to or from or in a foreign country from a restaurant, street vendor, grocery store, etc.)
7. What accounts do I use to properly record our foreign activities? The IRS requires that we break down foreign activity by IRS mandated regions. The University has nine “Travel” and nine “Conference Registration” account codes that correlate to the IRS regions Travel to, from and within these regions must be coded to that specific region Conference registrations in the region(s) must be coded to those regions
8. What are the travel regions? IRS Regions and SU account codes, travel: 560720 Central America/Caribbean 560721 East Asia and Pacific 560722 Europe 560723 Middle East and North Africa 560724 Canada and Mexico 560725 Russia and newly independent states 560726 South America 560727 South Asia 560728 Sub-Saharan Africa For a listing of countries in each region go here: http://comptroller.syr.edu/comptroller/display.cfm?content_ID=%23%28%28%21%28%0A
9. What are the conference registration account codes? IRS Regions and SU account codes, conference registration: 560730 Central America/Caribbean 560731 East Asia and Pacific 560732 Europe 560733 Middle East and North Africa 560734 Canada and Mexico 560735 Russia and newly independent states 560736 South America 560737 South Asia 560738 Sub-Saharan Africa For a listing of countries in each region go here: http://comptroller.syr.edu/comptroller/display.cfm?content_ID=%23%28%28%21%28%0A
10. How do I properly code travel on a multiple point trip? Travel is coded according to destination. And, yes, multiple account codes must be used on multi-point trips to ensure proper reporting. Travel account codes include all items previously mentioned (meals, transportation, lodging) but NOT conference registration (that gets its own slide!). If the ticket(s) for transportation does not break out each leg of the trip, an approximation can be used, simply divide the total cost of the airfare (train fare, etc.) by the number of legs and use that number. For example, the trip below has 5 travel points. If the cost of the trip is $4444.00, the cost of each leg is $888.80 ($4444  5 = 888.80). Syracuse to London: Travel – Europe London to Italy: Travel – Europe Italy to China: Travel – East Asia & the Pacific China to Dubai: Travel – Middle East & North Africa Dubai to Syracuse Travel - Middle East & North Africa
11. How do I properly code conference registrations? Use the conference registration account codes only for the actual cost to register for the conference If the conference is in a foreign country, the conference registration must be coded to the proper SU conference registration account code, not to foreign travel This is true even if the sponsor of the conference is a US based entity, conference registrations are coded to the region in which the conference occurs
12. Conference registration costs Only the actual cost of registering for the conference can be included in charges to the conference registration account code If the conference you are attending has an optional conference activity that is not included in the conference registration cost or requires the purchase of texts, software, materials or supplies for which the University is paying, those activities or purchases must be coded to their proper account even if they are paid for at the time of registration Purchases related to optional conference activities or purchases may be taxable income to employees, please contact the Comptroller’s office prior to your trip if you have questions
13. What about equipment & supplies? At this time, equipment and supplies purchased while on foreign travel do not have to be coded as “foreign”. In the future, plan on this happening, but right now, continue to use the equipment or supply account codes that you would normally use for purchases
14. What about travel to the U.S.? Travel to the United States or any of its territories or possessions from a foreign country and return from the United States to a foreign country does not fall under this requirement. Non-foreign account codes should be used for travel to the United States by all employees, consultants, students or other individuals or groups
15. Final thoughts The IRS requirement to break out foreign is not optional, however, the way we do it at SU is up to our own discretion. Please feel free to suggest process improvements, clarifications, fine tuning, etc. If you have questions about sponsored foreign travel, contact OSA If you have questions about non-sponsored foreign travel, contact General Accounting for questions on account codes or other specifics, contact Disbursements for questions on using or processing forms