Any payment that should not have been made or that was made in an incorrect amount under statutory, contractual, administrative, or other legally applicable requirements.
(i) Incorrect amounts are overpayments or underpayments that are made to eligible recipients (including inappropriate denials of payment or service, any payment that does not account for credit for applicable discounts, payments that are for an incorrect amount, and duplicate payments). An improper payment also includes any payment that was made to an ineligible recipient or for an ineligible good or service, or payments for goods or services not received (except for such payments authorized by law).
Note 1 to paragraph (1)(i) of this definition. Applicable discounts are only those discounts where it is both advantageous and within the agency's control to claim them.
(ii) When an agency's review is unable to discern whether a payment was proper as a result of insufficient or lack of documentation, this payment should also be considered an improper payment. When establishing documentation requirements for payments, agencies should ensure that all documentation requirements are necessary and should refrain from imposing additional burdensome documentation requirements.
(iii) Interest or other fees that may result from an underpayment by an agency are not considered an improper payment if the interest was paid correctly. These payments are generally separate transactions and may be necessary under certain statutory, contractual, administrative, or other legally applicable requirements.
(iv) A “questioned cost” (as defined in this section) should not be considered an improper payment until the transaction has been completely reviewed and is confirmed to be improper.
(v) The term “payment” in this definition means any disbursement or transfer of Federal funds (including a commitment for future payment, such as cash, securities, loans, loan guarantees, and insurance subsidies) to any non-Federal person, non-Federal entity, or Federal employee, that is made by a Federal agency, a Federal contractor, a Federal grantee, or a governmental or other organization administering a Federal program or activity.
(vi) The term “payment” includes disbursements made pursuant to prime contracts awarded under the Federal Acquisition Regulation and Federal awards subject to this part that are expended by recipients.
(2) See definition of improper payment in OMB Circular A-123 appendix C, part I A (1) “What is an improper payment?” Questioned costs, including those identified in audits, are not an improper payment until reviewed and confirmed to be improper as defined in OMB Circular A-123 appendix C.
