The fastest way to get a travel voucher kicked back is a missing hotel receipt. Not the amount, not the destination, the receipt. GSA per diem receipt requirements are simpler than most travelers think, and they fit in one sentence: lodging receipts always, meal receipts never, everything else over $75. Here is the full version, straight from the Federal Travel Regulation.
A voucher rejection is a special kind of annoyance because the trip is over and the money is already spent. You are reconstructing documentation for expenses you barely remember, and your approving official is asking questions you cannot answer from memory. The common gaps are three: no lodging folio, a rental car receipt that shows the total but not the breakdown, or a conference fee over $75 with nothing attached. All three are preventable with a thirty-second habit at checkout.
The three receipt rules
Lodging: always. You must provide a receipt for lodging on every trip, regardless of the amount. The folio should show the base room rate separate from taxes and incidentals, because taxes are reimbursed separately and do not count against the lodging cap. The single most useful habit in federal travel is photographing the itemized folio at checkout before you leave the hotel. Paper folios have a way of migrating to the bottom of a bag.
Meals and incidentals: never. M&IE is paid as a flat daily allowance, so there is nothing to substantiate. No receipts, no itemization, no explaining why lunch cost what it did. This is the entire point of per diem: the government trades receipt-chasing for a fixed rate. Keep the difference if you spend less. That is how the system is designed.
Everything else: over $75. For other authorized expenses, you need receipts when the cost exceeds $75. Conference registration, baggage fees that cross the line, parking for a week. Under $75, no receipt required, though keeping one costs nothing.
Transportation has its own stricter rule
Air, train, and rental car expenses need receipts regardless of amount when paid with your travel card or cash, including rental car fuel. Receipts for transportation bought through a centrally billed account are not required. For everything else that moves you, taxis, rideshares, shuttles, the $75 threshold applies, tip included in the total. This is the rule that surprises people: a $40 taxi needs nothing, but the $400 flight needs its receipt even though both are transportation.
What to do when a receipt is genuinely gone
The regulation anticipates this. When a receipt is unavailable or impracticable to obtain, you must fully explain why on the voucher. The standard is real: mere inconvenience does not count as a reason. "The hotel printer was broken and the front desk confirmed it" is an explanation. "I did not feel like asking" is not. Write the explanation at the time if you can, because the details that make it credible fade fast.
If your agency uses an electronic travel system, attach receipts to the voucher and verify the upload succeeded before destroying paper copies. That last clause matters more than it sounds. People delete the photo after attaching it, the upload silently fails, and the voucher bounces for the exact receipt they had in hand an hour earlier.
The thirty-second checkout routine
Here is the whole system. At hotel checkout, photograph the itemized folio and confirm the room rate and taxes are separate lines. After each flight and rental car return, save the emailed receipt to a trip folder instead of letting it drown in your inbox. For anything else over $75, snap a photo the day you pay. Do that and the voucher practically writes itself, because the FTR asks for remarkably little: the hotel folio, the big-ticket receipts, and an honest line on everything else.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need receipts for meals on GSA per diem?
No. Meals and incidental expenses are paid as a flat daily allowance, so no receipts are required. The allowance is yours regardless of what you actually spend on food.
Do I need a hotel receipt for per diem travel?
Always. Lodging receipts are required regardless of amount. Keep the itemized folio showing the room rate separate from taxes, since taxes are reimbursed separately and do not count against the lodging cap.
What is the $75 receipt rule for federal travel?
For authorized expenses other than lodging and transportation, receipts are required when the cost exceeds $75. Conference fees, baggage, and week-long parking are the common cases.
Do I need receipts for taxis and rideshares?
Only if the fare plus tip exceeds $75. But air, train, and rental car expenses always need receipts when paid with a travel card or cash, regardless of amount.
What happens if I lose a receipt?
Explain it fully on the voucher. The Federal Travel Regulation accepts a genuine explanation when obtaining a receipt was impracticable, but mere inconvenience is not a valid reason. Document the explanation while the details are fresh.
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