§ 75.414 - Indirect (F&A) costs.

§ 75.414 Indirect (F&A) costs.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 86 FR 2278, Jan. 12, 2021.

(a) Facilities and Administration Classification. For major IHEs and major nonprofit organizations, indirect (F&A) costs must be classified within two broad categories: “Facilities” and “Administration.” “Facilities” is defined as depreciation on buildings, equipment and capital improvement, interest on debt associated with certain buildings, equipment and capital improvements, and operations and maintenance expenses. “Administration” is defined as general administration and general expenses such as the director's office, accounting, personnel and all other types of expenditures not listed specifically under one of the subcategories of “Facilities” (including cross allocations from other pools, where applicable). For nonprofit organizations, library expenses are included in the “Administration” category; for institutions of higher education, they are included in the “Facilities” category. Major IHEs are defined as those required to use the Standard Format for Submission as noted in appendix III to part 75.C. 11. Major nonprofit organizations are those which receive more than $10 million dollars in direct Federal funding.

(b) Diversity of nonprofit organizations. Because of the diverse characteristics and accounting practices of nonprofit organizations, it is not possible to specify the types of cost which may be classified as indirect (F&A) cost in all situations. Identification with a Federal award rather than the nature of the goods and services involved is the determining factor in distinguishing direct from indirect (F&A) costs of Federal awards. However, typical examples of indirect (F&A) cost for many nonprofit organizations may include depreciation on buildings and equipment, the costs of operating and maintaining facilities, and general administration and general expenses, such as the salaries and expenses of executive officers, personnel administration, and accounting.

(c) Federal Agency Acceptance of Negotiated Indirect Cost Rates. (See also § 75.306.)

(1) The negotiated rates must be accepted by all Federal awarding agencies. An HHS awarding agency may use a rate different from the negotiated rate for a class of Federal awards or a single Federal award only when required by Federal statute or regulation, or when approved by a Federal awarding agency head or delegate based on documented justification as described in paragraph (c)(3) of this section.

(i) Indirect costs on Federal awards for training grants are limited to a fixed rate of eight percent of MTDC exclusive of tuition and related fees, direct expenditures for equipment, and subawards in excess of $25,000;

(ii) Indirect costs on grants awarded Federal awards to foreign organizations and foreign public entities and performed fully outside of the territorial limits of the U.S. may be paid to support the costs of compliance with federal requirements at a fixed rate of eight percent of MTDC exclusive of tuition and related fees, direct expenditures for equipment, and subawards in excess of $25,000; and ,

(iii) Negotiated indirect costs may be paid to the American University, Beirut, and the World Health Organization.

(2) The HHS awarding agency head or delegate must notify OMB of any approved deviations.

(3) The HHS awarding agency must implement, and make publicly available, the policies, procedures and general decision making criteria that their programs will follow to seek and justify deviations from negotiated rates.

(4) As required under § 75.203(c), the HHS awarding agency must include in the notice of funding opportunity the policies relating to indirect cost rate reimbursement, matching, or cost share as approved. See also appendix I.C.2 and D.6 of this part. As appropriate, the HHS agency should incorporate discussion of these policies into their outreach activities with non-Federal entities prior to the posting of a notice of funding opportunity.

(d) Pass-through entities are subject to the requirements in § 75.352(a)(4).

(e) Requirements for development and submission of indirect (F&A) cost rate proposals and cost allocation plans are contained in appendices III-VII, and appendix IX as follows:

(1) Appendix III to Part 75 - Indirect (F&A) Costs Identification and Assignment, and Rate Determination for Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs);

(2) Appendix IV to Part 75 - Indirect (F&A) Costs Identification and Assignment, and Rate Determination for Nonprofit Organizations;

(3) Appendix V to Part 75 - State/Local Governmentwide Central Service Cost Allocation Plans;

(4) Appendix VI to Part 75 - Public Assistance Cost Allocation Plans;

(5) Appendix VII to Part 75 - States and Local Government and Indian Tribe Indirect Cost Proposals; and

(6) Appendix IX to Part 75 - Principles for Determining Costs Applicable to Research and Development Under Grants and Contracts with Hospitals.

(f) In addition to the procedures outlined in the appendices in paragraph (e) of this section, any non-Federal entity that has never received a negotiated indirect cost rate, except for those non-Federal entities described in paragraphs (c)(1)(i) and (ii) of this section and section (D)(1)(b) of appendix VII to this part, may elect to charge a de minimis rate of 10% of modified total direct costs (MTDC) which may be used indefinitely. As described in § 75.403, costs must be consistently charged as either indirect or direct costs, but may not be double charged or inconsistently charged as both. If chosen, this methodology once elected must be used consistently for all Federal awards until such time as a non-Federal entity chooses to negotiate for a rate, which the non-Federal entity may apply to do at any time.

(g) Any non-Federal entity that has a current federally negotiated indirect cost rate may apply for a one-time extension of the rates in that agreement for a period of up to four years. This extension will be subject to the review and approval of the cognizant agency for indirect costs. If an extension is granted the non-Federal entity may not request a rate review until the extension period ends. At the end of the 4-year extension, the non-Federal entity must re-apply to negotiate a rate. Subsequent one-time extensions (up to four years) are permitted if a renegotiation is completed between each extension request.

[79 FR 75889, Dec. 19, 2014, as amended at 81 FR 3017, Jan. 20, 2016; 81 FR 89395, Dec. 12, 2016; 86 FR 2278, Jan. 12, 2021]