IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 882 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 16, 2013 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To prohibit the awarding of a contract or grant in excess 

of the simplified acquisition threshold unless the prospective contractor or grantee certifies in writing to the agency awarding the contract or grant that the contractor 

or grantee has no seriously delinquent tax debts, and 

for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Contracting and Tax 

5 Accountability Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GOVERNMENTAL POLICY. 

7 It is the policy of the United States Government that 

8 no Government contracts or grants should be awarded to 

9 individuals or companies with seriously delinquent Federal 

10 tax debts. 

11 SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE AND EVALUATION OF CONTRACT OF12 FERS FROM DELINQUENT FEDERAL DEBT13 ORS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of any executive agency 

15 that issues an invitation for bids or a request for proposals 

16 for a contract in an amount greater than the simplified 

17 acquisition threshold shall require each person that sub18 mits a bid or proposal to submit with the bid or proposal 

19 a form— 

20 (1) certifying that the person does not have a 

21 seriously delinquent tax debt; and 

22 (2) authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to 

23 disclose to the head of the agency information lim24 ited to describing whether the person has a seriously 

25 delinquent tax debt. 


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1 (b) IMPACT ON RESPONSIBILITY DETERMINATION.— 

2 The head of any executive agency, in evaluating any offer 

3 received in response to a solicitation issued by the agency 

4 for bids or proposals for a contract, shall consider a certifi5 cation that the offeror has a seriously delinquent tax debt 

6 to be definitive proof that the offeror is not a responsible 

7 source as defined in section 113 of title 41, United States 

8 Code. 

9 (c) DEBARMENT.— 

10 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in 

11 paragraph (2), the head of an executive agency shall 

12 initiate a suspension or debarment proceeding 

13 against a person after receiving an offer for a con14 tract from such person if— 

15 (A) such offer contains a certification (as 

16 required under subsection (a)(1)) that such per17 son has a seriously delinquent tax debt; or 

18 (B) the head of the agency receives infor19 mation from the Secretary of the Treasury (as 

20 authorized under subsection (a)(2)) dem21 onstrating that such a certification submitted 

22 by such person is false. 

23 (2) WAIVER.—The head of an executive agency 

24 may waive paragraph (1) with respect to a person 

25 based upon a written finding of urgent and compelVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:01 Apr 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H882.RFS H882

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1 ling circumstances significantly affecting the inter2 ests of the United States. If the head of an executive 

3 agency waives paragraph (1) for a person, the head 

4 of the agency shall submit to Congress, within 30 

5 days after the waiver is made, a report containing 

6 the rationale for the waiver and relevant information 

7 supporting the waiver decision. 

8 (d) RELEASE OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary of 

9 the Treasury, in consultation with the Director of the Of10 fice of Management and Budget, shall make available to 

11 all executive agencies a standard form for the authoriza12 tion described in subsection (a). 

13 (e) REVISION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 270 

14 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

15 Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be revised to incor16 porate the requirements of this section. 

17 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE AND EVALUATION OF GRANT APPLI18 CATIONS FROM DELINQUENT FEDERAL 

19 DEBTORS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of any executive agency 

21 that offers a grant in excess of an amount equal to the 

22 simplified acquisition threshold shall require each person 

23 applying for a grant to submit with the grant application 

24 a form— 


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1 (1) certifying that the person does not have a 

2 seriously delinquent tax debt; and 

3 (2) authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to 

4 disclose to the head of the executive agency informa5 tion limited to describing whether the person has a 

6 seriously delinquent tax debt. 

7 (b) IMPACT ON DETERMINATION OF FINANCIAL STA8 BILITY.—The head of any executive agency, in evaluating 

9 any application for a grant offered by the agency, shall 

10 consider a certification that the grant applicant has a seri11 ously delinquent tax debt to be definitive proof that the 

12 applicant is high-risk and, if the applicant is awarded the 

13 grant, shall take appropriate measures under guidelines 

14 issued by the Office of Management and Budget for en15 hanced oversight of high-risk grantees. 

16 (c) DEBARMENT.— 

17 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in 

18 paragraph (2), the head of an executive agency shall 

19 initiate a suspension or debarment proceeding 

20 against a person after receiving a grant application 

21 from such person if— 

22 (A) such application contains a certifi23 cation (as required under subsection (a)(1)) 

24 that such person has a seriously delinquent tax 

25 debt; or 


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1 (B) the head of the agency receives infor2 mation from the Secretary of the Treasury (as 

3 authorized under subsection (a)(2)) dem4 onstrating that such a certification submitted 

5 by such person is false. 

6 (2) WAIVER.—The head of an executive agency 

7 may waive paragraph (1) with respect to a person 

8 based upon a written finding of urgent and compel9 ling circumstances significantly affecting the inter10 ests of the United States. If the head of an executive 

11 agency waives paragraph (1) for a person, the head 

12 of the agency shall submit to Congress, within 30 

13 days after the waiver is made, a report containing 

14 the rationale for the waiver and relevant information 

15 supporting the waiver decision. 

16 (d) RELEASE OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary of 

17 the Treasury, in consultation with the Director of the Of18 fice of Management and Budget, shall make available to 

19 all executive agencies a standard form for the authoriza20 tion described in subsection (a). 

21 (e) REVISION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 270 

22 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

23 Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 

24 revise such regulations as necessary to incorporate the re25 quirements of this section. 


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1 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES. 

2 For purposes of this Act: 

3 (1) PERSON.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘person’’ in5 cludes— 

6 (i) an individual; 

7 (ii) a partnership; and 

8 (iii) a corporation. 

9 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘person’’ does 

10 not include an individual seeking assistance 

11 through a grant entitlement program. 

12 (C) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PARTNER13 SHIPS.—A partnership shall be treated as a 

14 person with a seriously delinquent tax debt if 

15 such partnership has a partner who— 

16 (i) holds an ownership interest of 50 

17 percent or more in that partnership; and 

18 (ii) has a seriously delinquent tax 

19 debt. 

20 (D) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CORPORA21 TIONS.—A corporation shall be treated as a 

22 person with a seriously delinquent tax debt if 

23 such corporation has an officer or a shareholder 

24 who— 

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1 cent, of the outstanding shares of cor2 porate stock in that corporation; and 

3 (ii) has a seriously delinquent tax 

4 debt. 

5 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

6 agency’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

7 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

8 (3) SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT TAX DEBT.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘seriously de10 linquent tax debt’’ means an outstanding Fed11 eral debt under the Internal Revenue Code of 

12 1986 for which a notice of lien has been filed 

13 in public records pursuant to section 6323 of 

14 such Code. 

15 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term does not in16 clude— 

17 (i) a debt that is being paid in a time18 ly manner pursuant to an agreement under 

19 section 6159 or section 7122 of such Code; 

20 and 

21 (ii) a debt with respect to which a col22 lection due process hearing under section 

23 6330 of such Code, or relief under sub24 section (a), (b), or (f) of section 6015 of 

25 such Code, is requested or pending. 


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1 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act shall apply with respect to contracts and 

3 grants awarded on or after the date occurring 270 days 

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 15, 2013. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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