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B-188552 1 (1979-01-10)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadgui0001 and id is 1 raw text is: DECISION FILE: B- MATTER DIGEST: ,,?-vLER , _ 2 -- -p THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL . 0 F THE UNITED STATES KAI WASHINGTON, D. C. 205486 188552 DATE: January 10, .1979 OF: David R. Wiser - /eal Estate Commission Taxes The real estate listing agreement signed by a transferred employee incident to'sale of his residence at his old duty station required pay- ment of 6 percent commission on selling price, plus the applicable gross receipts tax on the commission. fEmployee may be reimbursed for the tax paid to the broker under para. 2-6.2a, Federal Travel Regulations, 'if it is customary iirea for0 tax to be passed through toseller.4 Tax should be viewed as part of cost of services rendered by real estate broker, since it is neither levied on property nor included i6ipurchase price. L G, . 4 d, h A 5 Comp. en. 9_3 (17 ) istinguis eC By letter dated March 7, 1977, Edwin J. Fost of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Department of Justice, requested an advance decision as to whether Mr. David R. Wiser, an employee of DEA, is entitled to be reimbursed for the tax he paid on the broker's commission when he sold his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, incident to his transfer to Miami, Florida. By Travel Order B-0271, April 29, 1976, Mr. Wiser was transferred from Albuquerque to Miami. His broker's commission and other expenses associated with the sale of his residence in Albuquerque have been reimbursed. However, DEA disallowed the amount of $118.58 of the broker's fee, representing a 44 percent tax on the commission. This was done on the basis of our decision B-171878, August 4, 1974, published at 54 Comp. Gen. 93. Mr. Wiser has reclaimed the $118.58 on the ground that the cited decision is not applicable to the sale of a residence and that the fee (tax) is charged by all real estate firms. The Federal Travel Regulations (FTR), FPMR 101-7 (May 1973) in paragraph 2-6.2a allows reimbursement of a broker's fee or real estate commission paid by the employee for services in selling his residence, but not in excess of the rates generally charged for such services in the locality of the old official station. The claimant's contract or listing agreement with his real estate broker states in pertinent part:

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