What mileage and costs are to be shown on Form 7029?

From ANSC Form 7029, Section 3 – Non-Reimbursed Expenses: “Please list the total number of unreimbursed miles that you drove and the amount of any unreimbursed expenses required for all of your reported Auxiliary activity during this reporting period:” (Emphasis added)

Note that, in the instructions for Section 3, it elaborates on travel expenses, but does not exclude non-travel expenses.

The intent is for Auxiliarists to report the total of out-of-pocket expenses incurred in support of Coast Guard or Coast Guard Auxiliary missions. It does not matter if they were performing their Auxiliary activity with a hard-copy set of orders in hand or if they were implicitly assigned to duty simply by performing an authorized activity.

Since the user of this information may assume that these expenses represent the totality of costs borne by Auxiliarists in the performance of their duties, members should report all costs incurred on behalf of the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, unless reimbursed.

Don't duplicate costs by showing the actual cost of operating your vehicle, if you've already shown the miles.

Examples of expenses to include on the Form 7029:

• An entrance fee to get to the ramp on a Saturday morning in order to do VSCs.
• The cost you incurred for dry cleaning uniforms.
• The cost of materials purchased to make Auxiliary signboards for their facility
• The cost of plotting gear to satisfy the need to navigate to Coast Guard/Auxiliary standards while underway.
• The cost incurred by a member attending an Auxiliary conference at their own expense, including the mileage to and from the location, hotel costs, hotel taxes, meals, tolls, parking, etc., that would otherwise have gone onto the DD 1351-2, Travel Voucher.
• The mileage and cost incurred by a member volunteering at a local Coast Guard Unit on a daily basis, returning home at night.  However, they would not be claiming anything for meals in this situation, as the meals would not be reimbursable under orders in that instance.  (They would be deemed personal expenses.)
• The cost of ink cartridges purchased by an FSO-IS for a computer printer used almost exclusively for Auxiliary purposes.

This article was written by the DVC-UM on 2/13/12. It was believed to be accurate as of that date.