Significant Improvements Are Needed in the Contractor Tax Check Process

The Chief Financial Officer should ensure that tax results provided to the COs contain relevant tax information necessary to determine whether the contractor is prohibited from receiving contract awards under Federal appropriations law.

The Chief Procurement Officer should ensure that Office of Procurement tax check policies and procedures provide COs the ability to communicate tax check results, which indicate tax debt, to the affected contractors and obtain their consent to use the tax information for purposes of determining contractor responsibility and eligibility for award.

The Chief Procurement Officer should ensure procurement policies for responsibility determination implement the requirements of Federal appropriations law. Further, provide mandatory training to COs to strengthen their understanding of the proper procedure for requesting a tax check, how to use the tax check results to determine contractor award eligibility, the process for communicating the results to the contractor (as appropriate), and how to properly document the contract award decisions in their contract files.

The Chief Procurement Officer should ensure that tax checks are requested on all solicitations, regardless of award amount, so COs do not inadvertently violate the conditions placed upon the expenditure of appropriated funds.