[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 48, Volume 7]
[Revised as of October 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 48CFR2913.301]

[Page 24-25]
 
            TITLE 48--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM
 
                     CHAPTER 29--DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
 
Sec. 2913.301  Governmentwide commercial purchase card.

    (a) The Government purchase card has far fewer requirements for 
documentation than other methods of purchasing. However, the same legal 
restrictions apply to credit card purchases that apply to other 
purchases using appropriated funds. If a purchase cardholder has 
questions about the lawfulness of a particular purchase, he or she must 
initially consult his or her appropriate office purchase card 
administrator, who will consult the Office of the Solicitor as 
necessary.
    (b) GAO decisions surrounding the concept of the ``availability of 
appropriations'' are often stated in terms of whether appropriated funds 
are or are not ``legally available'' for a given expenditure. 
Restrictions on the purposes for which appropriated funds may be used 
come from a variety of sources, including the DOL Appropriations Acts, 
and decisions of the Comptroller General and his predecessor, the 
Comptroller of the Treasury.
    (c) HCAs, administrative officers, and contracting officers are 
encouraged to review the GAO publication entitled Principles of Federal 
Appropriations Law. This document must be consulted when developing 
Office/Agency Purchase/Credit Card Program procedures. A number of the 
more common restrictions which ``accounting officers of the Government'' 
have had frequent occasion to consider and apply include, for example:

[[Page 25]]

    (1) Payment of attorney's fees;
    (2) Purchase of food, entertainment or recreation;
    (3) Payment of personal membership fees; and
    (4) Payment of personal expense items such as gifts for employees, 
and entry fees for contests.