[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 41, Volume 3]
[Revised as of July 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 41CFR105-56.003]

[Page 419-420]
 
           TITLE 41--PUBLIC CONTRACTS AND PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
 
              CHAPTER 105--GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
 
PART 105-56_SALARY OFFSET FOR INDEBTEDNESS OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES TO THE 
UNITED STATES--Table of Contents
 
  Subpart A_Salary Offset of General Services Administration Employees
 
Sec. 105-56.003  Definitions.

    The following definitions apply to this subpart:
    (a) Administrative offset, as defined in 31 U.S.C. 3701(a)(1), means 
withholding funds payable by the United States (including funds payable 
by the United States on behalf of a State government) to, or held by the 
United States for, a person to satisfy a claim.
    (b) Agency means a department, agency or sub-agency, court, court 
administrative office, or instrumentality in the executive, judicial, or 
legislative branch of the Federal government, including government 
corporations.
    (c) Business day means Monday through Friday, excluding Federal 
legal holidays. For purposes of computation, the last day of the period 
will be included unless it is a Federal legal holiday.
    (d) Creditor agency means any agency that is owed a debt, including 
a debt collection center when acting on behalf of a creditor agency in 
matters pertaining to the collection of a debt.
    (e) Cross-serviced agency means an arrangement between GSA and 
another agency whereby GSA provides financial support services to the 
other agency on a reimbursable basis. Financial support services can 
range from simply providing computer and software timesharing services 
to full-service administrative processing.

[[Page 420]]

    (f) Disposable pay means the amount that remains from an employee's 
Federal pay after required deductions for Federal, State and local 
income taxes; Social Security taxes, including Medicare taxes; Federal 
retirement programs, including contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan 
(TSP); premiums for life (excluding amounts deducted for supplemental 
coverage) and health insurance benefits; Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 
tax levies; and such other deductions that may be required by law to be 
withheld.
    (g) Employee means any individual employed by GSA or a cross-
serviced agency of the executive, legislative, or judicial branches of 
the Federal Government, including Government corporations.
    (h) FCCS means the Federal Claims Collection Standards jointly 
published by the Department of Justice and the Department of the 
Treasury at 31 CFR parts 900 through 904.
    (i) Financial hardship means an inability to meet basic living 
expenses for goods and services necessary for the survival of the debtor 
and his or her spouse and dependents.
    (j) For the purposes of the standards in this subpart, unless 
otherwise stated, the term ``Administrator'' refers to the Administrator 
of General Services or the Administrator's delegate.
    (k) For the purposes of the standards in this subpart, the terms 
``claim'' and ``debt'' are synonymous and interchangeable. They refer to 
an amount of money, funds, or property that has been determined by GSA 
to be due the United States from an employee of GSA or a cross-serviced 
agency from sources which include loans insured or guaranteed by the 
United States and all other amounts due the United States from fees, 
leases, rents, royalties, services, sales of real or personal property, 
overpayments, penalties, damages, interest, fines and forfeitures and 
all other similar sources, including debt administered by a third party 
as an agent for the Federal Government. For the purposes of 
administrative offset under 31 U.S.C. 3716, the terms ``claim'' and 
``debt'' include an amount of money, funds, or property owed by an 
employee to a State (including past-due support being enforced by a 
State), the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the United 
States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
    (l) For the purposes of the standards in this subpart, unless 
otherwise stated, the terms ``GSA'' and ``Agency'' are synonymous and 
interchangeable.
    (m) Hearing official means a Board Judge of the GSA Board of 
Contract Appeals (GSBCA).
    (n) Pay means basic pay, special pay, incentive pay, retired pay, 
retainer pay, or in the case of an individual not entitled to basic pay, 
other authorized pay.
    (o) Pre-offset hearing means a review of the documentary evidence 
concerning the existence and/or amount of a debt, and/or the terms of a 
repayment schedule, provided such repayment schedule is established 
other than by a written agreement entered into pursuant to this subpart. 
If the hearing official determines that the issues in dispute cannot be 
resolved solely by review of the written record, such as when the 
validity of the debt turns on the issue of credibility or veracity, an 
oral hearing may be provided.
    (p) Program official means a supervisor or management official of 
the employee's service, staff office, cross-serviced agency, or other 
designated Agency officials.
    (q) Reconsideration means a request by the employee to have a 
secondary review by GSA of the existence and/or amount of the debt, and/
or the proposed offset schedule.
    (r) Salary offset means an administrative offset to collect a debt 
under 5 U.S.C. 5514 by deduction(s) at one or more officially 
established pay intervals from the current pay account of an employee 
without his or her consent.
    (s) Waiver means the cancellation, remission, forgiveness, or non-
recovery of a debt or debt-related charge as permitted or required by 
law.