Generally no; you may not be reimbursed for relocation expenses if you relocate to a new official station that does not meet the 50-mile distance test.

(a) The distance test is met when the new official station is at least 50 miles further from the employee's current residence than the old official station is from the same residence. For example, if the old official station is 3 miles from the current residence, then the new official station must be at least 53 miles from that same residence in order to receive relocation expenses for residence transactions. The distance between the official station and residence is the shortest of the commonly traveled routes between them. The distance test does not take into consideration the location of a new residence. This follows the distance guidelines found in Internal Revenue Service Publication 521, Moving Expenses.

(b) The head of your agency or designee may authorize an exception to the 50-mile threshold on a case-by-case basis when the authorized official determines that it is in the best interest of the Government. The determination must take into consideration such factors as commuting time and distance between the employee's residence at the time of notification of transfer and the new official station.

(c) Any relocation must be incidental to the transfer and not for the convenience of the employee.

[FTR Amdt. 2011-01, 76 FR 18336, Apr. 1, 2011, as amended by FTR Amdt. 2020-02; 84 FR 64781, Nov. 25, 2019]