Temporary Lodging Allowance: Eligibility, Duration, and Claims

Temporary Lodging Allowance (TLA) partially reimburses active-duty service members for hotel and meal costs during a Permanent Change of Station move to or from an overseas duty station. It runs while you search for permanent housing on arrival or wait to depart after vacating your residence. The rules sit in the DoD Financial Management Regulation, Volume 7A, Chapter 68, and the Joint Travel Regulations.¹

Who Qualifies

You qualify if you are on active duty with PCS orders involving an OCONUS location. TLA covers two situations: arriving at a new overseas post and needing somewhere to stay while you get settled, or departing an overseas post after you have vacated your permanent residence in connection with your orders.² Dependents listed on your travel orders generate additional entitlement and raise the daily rate.

Government housing availability drives most eligibility decisions. If the local housing office confirms that suitable government quarters are not ready, you can be reimbursed for private temporary lodging. If quarters are available and you decline them, TLA can be denied or sharply limited. The housing office at your gaining installation is typically the first stop after arrival for that reason.

TLA is not the same as Temporary Lodging Expense (TLE), which covers domestic moves within the continental United States and has its own cap and duration rules.³ A PCS with both a CONUS and an OCONUS leg can involve both allowances, but never for the same days.

If your dependents arrive at the overseas station before or after you do, TLA can still be authorized for the period they occupy temporary lodging without you present. Dependents filing on their own while the sponsor is absent need a power of attorney that explicitly authorizes TLA processing. Coordinate with the housing office before travel so the paperwork is ready.

How Long TLA Lasts

Arrival TLA can be paid for up to 60 days. Departure TLA normally covers no more than the last 10 days before your scheduled departure date.¹ Local commanders can set shorter initial periods, but they must allow you to request additional days if circumstances warrant.

Extensions beyond those windows require specific approval from the appropriate commander. You generally need to show that circumstances outside your control kept you from securing permanent housing. A tight overseas rental market with long waitlists or a renovation delay in government quarters can justify more time. Personal preference to keep looking does not.²

The catch that trips up service members is the diligent search requirement. You are expected to start looking for permanent housing immediately after arrival. At the end of the initial period, the designated overseas commander reviews whether you have been making genuine progress. Insufficient effort triggers a warning, and continued failure to actively pursue permanent housing is grounds for terminating your TLA entirely, even if you have not yet found a place to live.² Keep a written log of every property you visit, every waitlist you join, and every phone call you make. That log can save your allowance if your command questions your effort.

How TLA Is Calculated

The daily payment is based on the local per diem rate at your overseas duty station. It has a lodging component and a meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) component, and the percentage of each that you receive depends on how many people are in the temporary lodging and the ages of your dependents.²

Member alone (or one dependent alone): 100 percent of lodging, 65 percent of M&IE.
Member plus one dependent (two people together): 100 percent of lodging, 100 percent of M&IE.
Each additional dependent age 12 or older: adds 35 percent to both lodging and M&IE.
Each additional dependent under age 12: adds 25 percent to both lodging and M&IE.

A family of four (member, spouse, a 14-year-old, and a 9-year-old) would receive 160 percent of the lodging per diem and 160 percent of M&IE. For dual-military couples sharing lodging, each service member receives 65 percent of both lodging and M&IE rather than the higher percentages that would apply to a member with a civilian spouse.⁴

Each day, TLA pays the lesser of your actual lodging cost or the maximum rate allowed for your location. If the local ceiling is $150 and your hotel charges $120, you get $120. If the hotel charges $180, you are capped at $150 and cover the $30 difference yourself.⁵

If your temporary lodging includes a kitchen with a stove or oven, the M&IE portion drops by half.⁶ So when you are comparing a hotel with a kitchenette against one without, factor in that reduction before assuming the kitchenette saves you money.

Pet boarding, kennel fees, and any additional lodging charges for bringing a pet are not reimbursable under TLA. The Joint Travel Regulations specifically exclude these costs.⁷ Budget for pets separately.

Other Allowances and Taxes

Collecting TLA does not cost you your other housing-related pay. You can receive Overseas Cost of Living Allowance (COLA), Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), or Overseas Housing Allowance (OHA) at the same time as TLA.¹ DoD simply will not pay you twice for the same specific expense. If OHA is covering a lease you have signed but cannot yet move into, you can still collect TLA for the hotel you are staying in during that gap.

TLA payments are excluded from gross income for federal tax purposes. The IRS classifies TLA as a nontaxable military allowance, so it is not added to your W-2 wages.⁸ That holds even if a reimbursement happens to exceed your actual expenses for a given period, and you do not report TLA on your tax return.

Documents You Need

Getting the paperwork right from day one is the single most effective thing you can do to avoid delays.

PCS orders. The original orders provide the legal authority for TLA. Keep a copy with you throughout travel.²
Itemized lodging receipts for every night, showing the daily room rate, taxes, and any additional charges, with a zero balance confirming you paid in full.
A Certificate of Non-Availability (CNA) number from the on-base lodging facility if you stayed in private lodging, showing government quarters were not available.
DD Form 1351-2, the standard travel voucher. Your finance office or housing center can provide it along with any local worksheets required at your installation.

On the DD Form 1351-2, record exact check-in and check-out dates and your daily lodging cost, excluding meals or incidental charges like phone calls. The number and ages of dependents must match your travel orders. Confirm the daily rate on the form matches the totals on your receipts before submitting. Mismatches are one of the most common reasons claims get kicked back.

If you lose a receipt, you can submit a Statement in Lieu of a Receipt, including the dates the expenses were incurred and your signature date.⁹ Claims that rely on those statements draw extra scrutiny, so photograph or scan every receipt as backup from the start.

Filing the Claim

File your TLA claim by submitting the completed document package to the local housing or finance office. Submission methods vary. Some installations require an in-person appointment with a finance clerk; others accept uploads through a secure digital portal. A technician then reviews the package for compliance with the Joint Travel Regulations. Processing typically takes several business days after submission, and approved payments go through Electronic Funds Transfer directly into your primary pay account, appearing as a separate line item on your Leave and Earnings Statement.

You do not have to wait until after your stay to receive funds. An advance payment can be issued for the number of authorized TLA days, but only after the local TLA authority has provided authorization.² The amount follows local guidance at your installation. Check with the housing or finance office immediately upon arrival to start the process. Any advance is reconciled against your actual expenses when you file the final claim, so if you spent less than the advance covered, the difference comes back out of your pay.

If a certifying officer denies or reduces your reimbursement, you can appeal. The appeal goes through the paying office that made the original settlement decision, and disputes over interpretation of the Joint Travel Regulations are decided by the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals.⁵ Appeals take time, so make your initial submission as clean as possible.

1
Department of Defense. Financial Management Regulation Volume 7A, Chapter 68
2
Defense Travel Management Office. Temporary Lodging Allowance
3
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Temporary Lodging Expense (TLE)
4
Defense Travel Management Office. Two Service Members in the Same Temporary Lodging
5
Department of Defense. Joint Travel Regulations
6
Defense Travel Management Office. Temporary Lodging with Meal Preparation Facilities
7
Defense Travel Management Office. JTR Supplement – General Pet Information
8
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 3, Armed Forces’ Tax Guide
9
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. How to Complete the DD 1351-2