(a) Credit of Refunds.—The Secretary of Defense may credit refunds attributable to Department of Defense managed travel programs as a direct result of official travel to such operation and maintenance or research, development, test, and evaluation accounts of the Department as designated by the Secretary that are available for obligation for the fiscal year in which the refund or amount is collected.
Terms Used In 37 USC 456
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
(b) Use of Refunds.—Refunds credited under subsection (a) may only be used for official travel or operations and efficiency improvements for improved financial management of official travel.
(c) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) Managed travel program.—The term “managed travel program” includes air, rental car, train, bus, dining, lodging, and travel management, but does not include rebates or refunds attributable to the use of the Government travel card, the Government Purchase Card, or Government travel arranged by Government Contracted Travel Management Centers.
(2) Refund.—The term “refund” includes miscellaneous receipts credited to the Department identified as a refund, rebate, repayment, or other similar amounts collected.
