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Federal Acquisition Regulation Requirements Were Either Not Performed or Documented When Awarding and Administering Expert Witness Contracts

Report Information

Date Issued
Report Number
2023-IE-R012
Report Type
Inspection / Evaluation
Joint Report
Yes
Participating OIG
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration
Agency Wide
Yes (agency-wide)
Questioned Costs
$0
Funds for Better Use
$0
View Report

Recommendations

The Chief Procurement Officer should ensure that all required documentation is in the contract file and is sufficient to constitute a complete history of all actions taken to award and administer an expert witness, including complete market research surveys with supporting documentation, tax compliance checks, security awareness trainings, contractors’ assertions, and QASPs.

The Chief Procurement Officer should ensure that the required acquisition plan is completed and included in the contract files. For expert witness contracts, the statement of need in the acquisition plan should document the consideration of feasible acquisition alternatives, the impact of prior acquisitions on those alternatives, and any related in-house effort, such as internal experts.

The Chief Procurement Officer should ensure that the rationale to support the CO’s determination that the expert witness’s proposed hourly rate is fair and reasonable is documented and included in the contract file.

The Chief Procurement Officer should review all open expert witness contracts and determine if the contract type should be corrected in the IRS procurement system and the FPDS.

The Chief Procurement Officer should review all closed expert witness contracts and determine if the contract type should be corrected in the IRS procurement system and the FPDS.