Mileage Expense Policy
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This mileage expense policy (“Policy”) allows volunteers of fiscally hosted collectives (“Collectives” and individually as “Collective”) under the umbrella of OpenCollective Foundation (“OCF”) and OCF employees to submit expenses for eligible travel expenses at a rate set by the IRS.
What travel may be submitted?
Mileage expenses must have been incurred for charitable purposes, meaning you must have incurred this mileage while performing services as an employee or volunteer of OCF via the Collective.
We pay expenses for bicycle travel at the same rate as automobile travel. 🚲
An eligible “trip” may be a single path from A to B, or a set of multiple stops performed on a single day, made using a personal vehicle (e.g., automobile or bicycle).
Trips made using hired or rented vehicles are not eligible mileage expenses.
However, receipts for such services may instead be submitted for standard reimbursement, and related costs such as gasoline receipts for filling up the hired vehicle can be reimbursed in full. Please submit the gasoline and hired vehicle receipts together within a single Reimbursement Expense.
(We cannot "rent" a volunteer's personal vehicle.)
Volunteer Travel
Volunteers incurring mileage while performing services as part of OCF via a hosted Collective may submit expenses for qualified mileage, following the process below.
The non-taxable mileage expense rate for charity volunteers was set many years ago at only $0.14 per mile, well below what would a reasonable rate today. OCF, however, pays volunteers mileage expenses at the IRS "standard" rate, shown below.
A consequence of this decision is that the mathematical difference between $0.14 and the current IRS "standard" rate (shown below) is presumed to be taxable income for the volunteer. Volunteers receiving more than $600 in taxable income in the calendar year will be automatically prompted to submit their tax information and issued a Form 1099.
Employee Travel
Individuals employed by OCF through Justworks may submit expenses for qualified mileage incurred outside of normal travel to and from work, following the process below. Employees’ daily commute is not eligible.
Contractor Travel
Contractors providing services to OCF Collectives are not eligible for mileage expense payment. They should track their own mileage over the course of the year and consult with a tax advisor about proper processes for deducting such mileage on their tax return.
Mileage Expense Rate
The mileage expense rate is set by the IRS on (at least) an annual basis:
✨ $0.655 per mile ✨
Submitting Mileage Expenses
Within 60 days of the trip, volunteers and employees of OCF may submit mileage expenses for payment using the following process:
Complete the OCF Mileage Expense Form. Your submission should be sent to you automatically via email.
Submit an expense to the Collective, calculating the proper amount by multiplying the rate (shown above) by the total mileage and uploading a (pdf/printed) copy of your Expense Form submission as documentation.
Volunteers should submit an Invoice expense, uploading the form submission copy as an "invoice." Set the description as "mileage expense." Multiple mileage form submissions maybe uploaded in a single invoice expense.
Employees should submit a Reimbursement expense, uploading the form submission copy as a "receipt." Multiple mileage form submissions maybe uploaded in a single reimbursement expense.
A Collective Admin will review the expense and approve if it meets their requirements.
OCF staff will review the expense and pay it if it meets the requirements of OCF policies.
Multiple trips may be included in a single expense.
Active Automobile Insurance
Volunteers, employees, and contractors incurring mileage while performing services for OCF Collectives using an automobile must have active automobile insurance.
Returning Excess Funds
In the event of any excess mileage expense provided, you must return such excess amount within 120 days after the expense was paid or incurred. An excess amount is any amount you were paid that is more than the mileage expense that you adequately accounted for to OCF via your Collective’s page.
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