The following defines the allowances for which you’re eligible based on your PCS overseas assignment and your signing of the required service agreement. The allowances described below are based on current regulations. Information about specific allowances can be found in The Department of State (DoS) Standardized Regulations (SR) publication and in Section 920, Post Classification and Payments Table, and Amendments to the Department of State Standardized Regulations (Government Civilians, Foreign Areas). Please be aware that the DoS has all legislative authority over these allowances, including setting or changing the rates. NASA has no authority over these allowances.
Some of the allowances are calculated on base pay, some on "spendable" pay, and appear in your regular paycheck. Some are lump-sum amounts you will receive after moving overseas or upon returning. Keep in mind that when you move overseas you lose locality-based pay. (for Houston, currently 24.77 (2005) percent above the Government’s General Schedule pay scale).
For more information about the standardized regulations, please visit: http://www.state.gov/m/a/als/c1843.htm
For a table of allowances, please visit: http://www.state.gov/m/a/als/920/
Pay-Based Allowances
Allowances calculated on your pay for which you may be eligible include:
Post (Hardship) Differential
Taxable allowance for the unusually difficult conditions or physical hardships associated with living in specific overseas locations. Currently, Russia is the only overseas location that JSC has employees stationed in which a post (hardship) differential is paid. As of July 2005, the Moscow/Star City post differential was 15 percent of base salary. Post differential is reviewed several times a year by the State Department and may fluctuate from 10 percent up to 25 percent.
Tax Status: Taxable
Reference(s): Foreign Service Assignment Notebook (FSAN) or (SR 500)
Eligible: All NASA employees assigned (PCS/TCS) to an overseas post that the DoS designates as a hardship post
Post Cost-of-Living Allowance (COLA)
Non-taxable allowance based on the cost of goods and services in Moscow versus Washington, D.C. "Post Allowance is calculated by applying the local cost-of-living index to each employee’s "Spendable" income. Spendable income is defined by DoS as that portion of base salary available to an employee for purchase of food, household operations, home furnishings and equipment, apparel, transportation, health care, entertainment, personal care items, reading material, education, alcohol, tobacco, and misc. goods and services." As of July 2005, the post COLA for Moscow/Star City was 15 percent of "spendable" income. Post COLA, never less than 10 percent of spendable income, is reviewed several times a year by the State Department and may fluctuate.
Tax Status: Non-taxable
Reference(s): FSAN or (SR 220)
Eligible: All NASA employees assigned (PCS/TCS) overseas
Separate Maintenance Allowance
Non-taxable assistance if you maintain family away from your Moscow post. This can be available for voluntary reasons, but not under circumstances of legal separation or divorce. Payments are made directly to you and are in lieu of all other allowances and benefits for your dependents for as long as they remain away from post. You must request a separate maintenance allowance once you arrive at post. Rates vary by the number of dependents. Family members may visit you for up to 30 days without reduction in the allowance. Only children under 18 years of age can be included in your separate maintenance allowance. Important Note: If you receive a separate maintenance allowance for a dependent child under 18 years of age who did not move to post with you (i.e., child did not PCS), then you are not eligible for an educational travel allowance for that child.
Tax Status: Non-taxable
Reference(s): FSAN or (SR 260)
Eligible: All NASA employees who leave family in U.S. while on a PCS/TCS overseas assignment
Lump-Sum-Based Allowances
Lump-sum allowances for which you may be eligible include:
Foreign Transfer Allowance
Partially reimburses you for expenses incurred in changing residences. It includes a lump sum miscellaneous expense allowance of $500 without family or $1000 with family, no receipts required to claim. Claims above this must be supported by receipts for the entire miscellaneous expense claim. The maximum amounts which may be granted are 1 week’s salary for an employee without family and 2 weeks’ salary for an employee with family. A maximum salary ceiling of GS-13, step 10, is further applied. In addition, a pre-departure subsistence allowance provides reimbursement for the costs of lodging, meals, and laundry for up to 10 days after you vacate your permanent home before departing the U.S.
Tax: Non-taxable
Reference(s): FSAN or (SR 240)
Eligible: All NASA employees permanently assigned overseas
Temporary Quarters Subsistence Allowance
Available to pay the costs of temporary quarters, meals, and laundry after arrival at post if Government-furnished housing is not immediately available. This allowance may be paid for reasonable costs for periods of up to 90 days after arrival at post (75 percent of the TDY rate for the post for the first 30 days; 65 percent of the TDY rate for the post for the second 30 days; 55 percent of the TDY rate for the post for the third 30 days). Post COLA allowance cannot be paid during the period you receive the temporary quarters subsistence allowance.
Tax: Non-taxable
Reference(s): FSAN or (SR 120)
Eligible: All NASA employees assigned (TCS/PCS) overseas
Education Allowance
Available to assist in meeting the uncompensated, necessary, and extraordinary expenses of educating dependent children while you serve in a foreign country. This allowance helps to provide adequate elementary and secondary education for children while overseas and is granted at posts where the cost of adequate schooling exceeds the cost in a U.S. public school, grades K-12. The education allowance can also assist with costs of tuition, room and board, and periodic transportation for adequate schooling ("boarding school") away from post.
Tax: Non-taxable
Reference(s): FSAN or (SR 270)
Eligible: All NASA employees assigned overseas (TCS/PCS) who have children living with them in grades K through 12
Educational Travel Allowance
Covers annual round-trip travel expenses of children from post to a school in the U.S. for secondary and undergraduate education. It covers actual expenses for transportation of the student at lowest available fares, travel per diem, and expenses for unaccompanied personal baggage between the overseas post and the school. Important Note: If you are receiving a separate maintenance allowance for a child under age 18 who did not move to post with you (i.e., child did not PCS/TCS), you are not eligible for an educational travel allowance for this child.
Tax: Non-taxable
Reference(s): FSAN or (SR 280)
Eligible: All NASA employees assigned overseas (TCS/PCS) who have children attending high school or undergraduate college in the U.S.
Home Service Transfer Allowance (Change of Station Back to US at end of tour)
Similar to the foreign transfer allowance. A Home Service Transfer allowance is payable upon your return to a permanent position in the U.S. The subsistence expense portion offsets costs of hotel lodging, meals, dry cleaning, and laundry for up to 60 days upon your return to the U.S. The miscellaneous expense portion is exactly the same as the foreign transfer allowance expense portion (as described above). To receive this allowance you must sign a service agreement to serve at least 12 months at the new U.S. location.
Tax: Taxable
Reference(s): IRS Publication 17 and IRS Publication 521
Eligible: All NASA employees returning from a permanent (TCS/PCS) overseas assignment
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