2 CFR § 200.313 – Equipment Uniform Guidance

(e)Disposition. When original or replacement equipment acquired under a Federal award is no longer needed for the original project or program or for other activities currently or previously supported by a Federal awarding agency, except as otherwise provided in Federal statutes, regulations, or Federal awarding agency disposition instructions, the non-Federal entity must request disposition instructions from the Federal awarding agency if required by the terms and conditions of the Federal award. Disposition of the equipment will be made as follows, in accordance with Federal awarding agency disposition instructions:

(1) Items of equipment with a current per-unit fair market value of $5,000 or less may be retained, sold or otherwise disposed of with no further obligation to the Federal awarding agency.

(2) Except as provided in § 200.312 Federally-owned and exempt property, paragraph (b), or if the Federal awarding agency fails to provide requested disposition instructions within 120 days, items of equipment with a current per-unit fair market value in excess of $5,000 may be retained by the non-Federal entity or sold. The Federal awarding agency is entitled to an amount calculated by multiplying the current market value or proceeds from sale by the Federal awarding agency's percentage of participation in the cost of the original purchase. If the equipment is sold, the Federal awarding agency may permit the non-Federal entity to deduct and retain from the Federal share $500 or ten percent of the proceeds, whichever is less, for its selling and handling expenses.

(3) The non-Federal entity may transfer title to the property to the Federal Government or to an eligible third party provided that, in such cases, the non-Federal entity must be entitled to compensation for its attributable percentage of the current fair market value of the property.

(4) In cases where a non-Federal entity fails to take appropriate disposition actions, the Federal awarding agency may direct the non-Federal entity to take disposition actions.

• Once the Institute has confirmed that it has satisfied disposition requirements from the governing federal agency as detailed in 2 CFR § 200.313 – Equipment Uniform Guidance, it may then proceed to dispose of the capital equipment.
• Federally funded capital equipment that is no longer in use and is considered surplus by the equipment owner, portfolio, Institute and the Controller's Office may be sold to Rensselaer faculty, staff, or outside companies.
• The Dean, Vice President, Department Head and or Property Administrator must ensure that no other individual in the portfolio or the Institute has need of the capital equipment at Rensselaer.
• The department wishing to sell a capital equipment item must contact the Controller's Office to verify that the item is a piece of capital equipment, as well as to agree upon a price for the item.
• If the item is fully depreciated, a mutually agreed-upon price is set by the Property Administrator (who may contact an outside company for a valuation quote), the buyer's supervisor and the buyer.
• If the item is not fully depreciated, the faculty or staff member must pay the undepreciated value or the fair market value of that item or the valuation cost, whichever is greater.
• If the capital equipment is sold to someone or a company outside of the Institute, A Bill of Sale must be completed by filling in the amount of sale, adding 8% sales tax, and obtaining a signature by a Rensselaer Dean, Vice President, Director, or Department Head and the Property Administrator.
• The department that has responsibility for the capital equipment being sold will collect the funds from the sale of the capital equipment. If the capital equipment was originally purchased with Institute start-up funding, the funds from the sale of the capital equipment will be returned to the Institute's Budget Office. If the capital equipment was purchased with department funding, the funds from the sale of the capital equipment can be retained by the department, although the department must deposit the sales tax collected into 135493-9935-857.

To transfer a piece of equipment between departments, the Capital Equipment Disposal, Sale or Transfer Form must be completed. The transfer will be recorded at the book value of the equipment. Both the originating and receiving Department Heads/Center Directors are required to sign the Capital Equipment Disposal, Sale or Transfer Form.

If the equipment cannot be utilized at Rensselaer, it may be considered for sale to an RPI employee or outside party.  To sell a piece of equipment, the Capital Equipment Disposal, Sale or Transfer Form must also be completed.  In addition, the Institute is required to collect and remit sales tax to the IRS on the sale of equipment. As such, a Bill of Sale Form must be completed and signed by the relevant parties.

If the equipment was purchased with sponsored research funds, RAF will need to be included to review federal, state and sponsor requirements or restrictions around the sale of the equipment. Restrictions may not allow for the sale of equipment, may require that the Institute return the equipment to the sponsor or may have specific requirements around obtaining a formal appraisal. 

The equipment should be sold at a fair market value (FMV). Depending on the value of the equipment or sponsor restrictions, a formal appraisal may be required. The buyer will be responsible for the cost of the appraisal, unless the department chooses to cover those costs themselves. 

Sales of capital equipment via the govdeals.com site must also go through the disposal process, utilizing the Capital Equipment Disposal, Sale or Transfer Form, before listing the item for sale on that site. GovDeals will handle any sales tax resulting from the sale, so no Bill of Sale or booking of sales tax collections via FTR is necessary. 

The Department is responsible for assisting in the coordination of all the paperwork required for the sale of equipment. Because the process of obtaining approvals, completing appropriate paperwork, listing items for sale internally, and potentially obtaining an appraisal is involved and time consuming, it is recommended to allow at least three months to complete the process. The approval process ends at any point when the request is denied by any of the approvers required on the Capital Equipment Disposal, Sale or Transfer Form.

The department that has responsibility for the capital equipment being sold will collect the funds from the sale of the equipment. If the equipment was originally purchased with Institute start-up funds, the funds from the sale of the equipment will be returned to the Institute’s Budget Office. If the equipment was purchased with department or sponsored research funding, the funds from the sale can be retained by the department. 

Sales tax related to the sale must be deposited into 135493-9935-857. 

In certain instances, a faculty member may communicate that they are moving from Rensselaer to another institution and want to take some of their research equipment with them. There are many factors to consider in facilitating the transfer of equipment to another institution. Approval for the transfer of equipment is not guaranteed, as it may be determined that the equipment can be utilized elsewhere on campus, that there are restrictions that do not allow for the transfer or that the transfer is not financially advantageous to the Institute. In most cases, it would be expected that the receiving institution would remit consideration to Rensselaer for the acquisition of the equipment. In those cases, the process for the Sale of Equipment from above should be followed. Otherwise, the Capital Equipment Disposal, Sale or Transfer Form should be utilized to facilitate a potential transfer of equipment to another institution. This form will include the list of equipment that the faculty would like to take to their new institution. The Controller’s Office can assist the Department in generating a list of equipment, as needed, to ensure all items and their subcomponents are included. 

The Department is responsible for assisting faculty in the coordination of all the paperwork required for the transfer of equipment from the Institute. Because the process of obtaining verification, review and approval of equipment transfers from various offices on campus is involved and time consuming, it is recommended that a faculty member allows at least three months prior to departure to obtain all the approvals and complete the process. 

The approval process ends at any point when the request is denied by any of the approvers required on the Capital Equipment Disposal, Sale or Transfer Form.

The receiving institution must pay all costs of preparing, packing and transporting the equipment, as well as any fees incurred for appraisal services on the equipment. The Environmental Health & Safety Office should be consulted regarding any special packing and shipping requirements. The Department should oversee the packing process and remove the equipment tag and discard it before the item leaves the Institute’s premises.

This includes equipment that is broken, thrown away, cannibalized for parts, or lost. If the equipment cannot be utilized at Rensselaer or sold to another party, it may be discarded or cannibalized for parts. 

For any of these methods of disposal of equipment, the Capital Equipment Disposal, Sale or Transfer Form should be used and submitted to the Controller’s Office.