How to Fill Out and Submit DD Form 1705: Parts and Attachments

To fill out DD Form 1705, download the December 2023 edition from the Washington Headquarters Services forms portal, work through its five parts using the exact figures from your Closing Disclosure, and route the signed form with a DD Form 1351-2 and your supporting documents to your supervisor and then to the paying office at your new duty station.¹ The form is how DoD civilian employees claim reimbursement for closing costs tied to a Permanent Change of Station, capped by statute at 10 percent of the sale price at the old station and 5 percent of the purchase price at the new one.²

Before You Open the Form

Two things need to be true before the form is worth filling out. Your PCS orders must explicitly authorize real estate expense reimbursement, and you must have signed a transportation agreement before claiming any relocation allowances.³ The property has to have been your primary residence at the old station when you were first notified of the transfer, or it has to become your primary residence at the new station.⁴ Investment properties, vacation homes, and rentals don’t qualify.

Timing matters too. The sale or purchase must close before the one-year anniversary of your report date at the new duty station, with a possible one-year extension from your commanding officer if you request it in writing before that first year expires.³

Have these papers in front of you before you start typing:

Your signed PCS orders (confirming real estate reimbursement is authorized)
Your travel authorization and transportation agreement
The real estate contract for the sale, the purchase, or both
The final signed Closing Disclosure or, for older transactions, the HUD-1 settlement statement
Receipts for anything you paid outside of closing

Walking Through the Five Parts

DD Form 1705 is a two-page PDF with five parts. Parts I through IV are yours to complete; Part V is signed by the paying office.

Part I: Civilian Employee Information

Enter your last name, first name, and middle initial, the travel order number from your PCS orders, and your current mailing address with ZIP code. There’s a box asking whether you have already submitted a real estate claim for this same PCS transfer. Check “Yes” if you previously filed for the sale and are now filing for the purchase, or the other way around.⁴

Part II: Transfer Information

Fill in the logistics of the move: previous permanent duty station location, new duty station location, the date you were notified of the transfer, the date of your travel authorization, the date you signed your transportation agreement, and your report date at the new station. All dates go in YYYYMMDD format.⁴

Part III: Residence Sale and Purchase Expenses

This is the money section. Part III uses two columns, one for the old-station sale and one for the new-station purchase, so a single form can carry both transactions. For each property, enter the full address, the number of dwelling units, the closing date, and the sale or purchase price. Then transfer the dollar amounts from your Closing Disclosure into the corresponding blocks:

Line 15: Broker’s commission or sales fee
Line 16: Advertising fees
Line 17: Appraisal fee
Line 18: Legal and related fees
Lines 19a through 19i: Miscellaneous costs, including prepayment charge, lender’s appraisal fee, FHA or VA application fee, certification fee, credit report fee, mortgage title policy fee, escrow agent’s fee, tax stamps, and sales or transfer taxes
Line 20: Other incidental expenses not covered above
Line 21: Total costs claimed

Every figure has to match the settlement statement exactly. If you paid something outside of closing, such as a pest inspection fee paid directly to the inspector, attach the separate receipt and enter that amount on Line 20. Don’t estimate. Finance reviewers compare each entry against the supporting documents line by line.⁴

Part IV: Employee Certification

Your signature in Part IV certifies three things: that title to the property was in your name or an authorized dependent’s name, that the property was your primary residence at the relevant time, and that the amounts claimed are only what you actually paid. Title held jointly with an immediate family member, or in a family member’s name alone, is covered by statute.² Your supervisor or a designated official also signs Part IV, certifying that the expenses are reasonable in amount and customary for the locality. Any line item the reviewer reduces has to be explained in an attached memorandum.⁴

Part V: Management Approval

Leave Part V blank. The payment-approving official at your new duty station signs it during the routing process after you submit.

What to Attach

Missing documents are the most common reason a claim stalls. A complete package includes:

The completed original DD Form 1705
DD Form 1351-2 (Travel Voucher or Subvoucher). Without it, the claim will not be processed.⁵
Signed PCS orders authorizing real estate expense reimbursement
The real estate contract
The final signed Closing Disclosure or settlement statement, not a preliminary estimate⁶
Receipts for any expense paid separately from closing

Where the Form Goes After You Sign It

Submit the original DD Form 1705, the DD Form 1351-2, and copies of the supporting documents to your supervisor. The supervisor or designated official reviews the expenses, signs Part IV, and passes the package to the payment-approving official at your new duty station’s paying office, who signs Part V and authorizes payment.⁵ Some agencies accept digital submissions by email or secure portal; others want physical delivery. Ask your local claims office which method they use.

Expenses to Leave Off the Form

Certain closing-related costs are excluded even when they show up on your settlement statement. Claiming them slows the review and invites reductions. The ones people most often try to claim by mistake:

A standard buyer’s home inspection you ordered voluntarily. Only inspections required by federal, state, or local law qualify.⁷
Duplicate appraisals or inspections. Only one of each is eligible.
Any loss on the sale of your home. The statute is explicit.²
Property taxes and HOA dues, which are ownership costs rather than transaction costs
Maintenance and repairs, including work done to prepare the home for listing
Attorney fees connected to litigation over the transaction
Any fee that exceeds local norms or is not normally paid by the party you represent

An owner’s title insurance policy is a narrow case: reimbursable only when it is a prerequisite to financing or transferring the property, or when its cost is inseparable from the lender’s policy.⁸

Processing Time and Taxes

DFAS reports PCS claims are averaging around 14 business days to process, with up to three more business days for the deposit to hit your bank.⁹ Volume climbs during summer PCS season, so claims filed between May and August may run longer. Payments are deposited electronically to the account on file with your agency’s payroll system.

The reimbursement itself is taxable income. Federal withholding is applied through the Withholding Tax Allowance at the time of payment,¹⁰ and after year-end your agency calculates a Relocation Income Tax Allowance to cover remaining federal, state, and local tax liability the WTA did not.¹¹ Social Security and Medicare taxes on relocation benefits stay with you; current law does not allow agencies to reimburse them.

1
Washington Headquarters Services. DD 1705 – Reimbursement for Real Estate Sale and/or Purchase Closing Cost Expenses
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 5724a – Relocation Expenses of Employees Transferred or Reemployed
3
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Real Estate
4
Washington Headquarters Services. DD Form 1705 – Reimbursement for Real Estate Sale and/or Purchase Closing Cost Expenses
5
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. DD Form 1705 – Reimbursement for Real Estate Sale and/or Purchase Closing Cost Expenses
6
U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command. Real Estate Claims
7
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Allowances for Expenses Incurred in Connection with Real Estate
8
Department of Defense. Joint Travel Regulations
9
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Civilian Permanent Change of Station (PCS)
10
eCFR. The Withholding Tax Allowance (WTA)
11
eCFR. Taxes on Relocation Expenses