Local funds 

For all travelers other than university guests and contractors, actual meal and lodging expenses shall not exceed the published amount on the UH Travel website for the period, excluding hotel occupancy tax.  All lodging expenses must be supported by itemized receipts. Please refer to  Combined Travel Meals and Lodging Limits for meals and lodging daily cap.

Overnight meals and lodging for university guests and contractors must be in accordance with the agreement/contract and must be supported with itemized receipts . The expenses must not be lavish or extravagant.

Conference hotel rate. If the conference rate is used, and the daily meals/lodging combined amount does not exceed the university daily limit, the amount will be reimbursed without additional documentation; If the conference hotel is used, and the daily meals/lodging combined amount exceeds the university daily limit, the published hotel expenses and actual meals up to the federal travel regulation meal rate (M&IE) for the travel destination may be reimbursed if the traveler provides one of the following in the expense report: 1. The publicized document showing the conference hotel rate (must be the lowest rate); or 2. The appropriate Division Vice Presidents’ approval (VP approval can be provided in the form of an e-mail or by adding them to Concur Expense Report approval workflow)

State Hotel Occupancy Taxes for Lodging in Texas. University employees are exempt from the state portion of hotel occupancy taxes when traveling on official university business in Texas using local or state funds. The employee should present a Texas Hotel Occupancy Tax Exemption Certificate to the Texas hotel or motel at the time of check-in. However, if the employee failed to provide the Exception Certificate was not honored by the hotel, the employee can be reimbursed for the state hotel occupancy tax with explanation.

Apartment/House Rentals. Airbnb can be used and listed as Apartment/House Rental Expense. The Apartment/House Rental base fee, cleaning fee, and Airbnb service fee will be listed as “Hotel Room Only” and the “occupancy taxes” will be listed as “Hotel Tax.”

Receipt Requirements. Lodging receipts should include the following information: the name and address of the commercial lodging establishment; the name of the employee; the single room rate; a daily itemization of the lodging charges and proof of payment. Please separate amounts for charges such as lodging, hotel occupancy taxes, meals, and telephone calls.

If you are booking through a third party, such as expedia.com, per MAPP policy, you are still required to obtain an itemized receipt. We recommend that travelers contact the Help Center or Customer Service of the third party company before their trip to advise them that they will need an itemized receipt after their trip. If the traveler doesn’t do so, however, they can still request an itemized receipt after their trip.

The amount of meal and/or lodging expenses must be entered for each day of travel . For lodging, room rate and tax rate must be separately entered to be itemized.  

All moving/house hunting expenses must require itemized receipts.

Sources: MAPP 04.02.01A; MAPP 04.02.01B; GSA Rates; FAQs for Travel Outside the U.S.; Domestic Travel FAQs; TexTravel/GSA - Federal Management Regulation; Texas Government Code Section 660.006, 660.024 and 660.113; Federal Travel Regulation (GSA - General Services Administration).