2901  Overview

This chapter establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) financial policies for the obligation of witness fees to non-federal employees.

Key points covered in this chapter:

• In accordance with 28 U.S.C. §1821, VA is authorized to pay witness fees to non-federal employees; and
• Witness fee recipients must be individually vendorized. The use of a miscellaneous vendor code is not permitted for these obligations.

2902 Revisions

Section	Revision	Office	Reason for Change	Effective Date
Various	New policy	OFP	Reorganized chapter layout	September 2026

2903 Definitions

Non-Contractual Obligation – Obligations with special statutory authority or other regulatory authority to exempt the obligation from Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). There are instances where these obligations may be generally defined as a contract (agreement between two parties), but these obligations do not follow FAR-based procedures.

Obligation – A legally binding agreement that will result in outlays, immediately or in the future. An obligation is a legal liability of the Government against an available appropriation.

2904 Roles and Responsibilities

Administration and Staff Office Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are responsible for ensuring the proper processing of witness fees to non-federal employees.

2905 Policies

290501 General Policies

1. In accordance with 28 U.S.C. §1821, VA will pay appropriate fees and allowances to a witness in attendance at any court of the United States. 
2. In accordance with 28 C.F.R. § 21.2, an employee who appears on behalf of the United States is considered to be in official duty status and therefore is not entitled to receive an attendance fee.
3. A witness will be paid an attendance fee for each day or partial day’s attendance.
4. A non-contractual obligation may be used to pay witness fees to individuals, including retired or separated Federal personnel who appear as a witness on behalf of VA.
5. An obligation will be recorded for the authorized amount of fees and allowances upon receipt of a request for reimbursement.
6. Required documentation for witness fee obligations includes the reimbursement request and associated receipts or proof of attendance.
7. Witnesses must be individually vendorized; use of “Miscellaneous Vendor” is not permitted.
8. Witness fee obligations must follow the requirements for all Government obligations, established in Volume III, Chapter 2 – Obligations.

290502 Integrated Financial and Acquisition Management System (iFAMS)

1. When recording an obligation for a witness fee in iFAMS, document type OSE (Standard Obligation, non-acquisitions obligation) must be used.
2. When making a payment for witness fees in iFAMS, a PAE (Manual Payment) will be used as the payment document type.

290503  Financial Management System (FMS)

1. When recording an obligation for witness fees in FMS, VA Form 1358 approved use / authority code “20” and sub-authority “A” must be used.
2. Payment for witness will be made via standard electronic funds transfer (EFT).

2906 Authorities and References

• United States Code (U.S.C.)
  • 28 U.S.C. § 1821, Per diem and mileage generally; subsistence
• Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.)
  • 28 C.F.R. § 21.2, Employees of the United States serving as witnesses
• VA Financial Policy
  • Volume III, Chapter 2 – Obligations

2907 Rescissions

None.

Appendix A: Previous Policy Revisions

None.