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Union Calendar No. 21 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 882 

[Report No. 113–35] 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2013 

Mr. CHAFFETZ (for himself and Ms. SPEIER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

APRIL 12, 2013 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


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•HR 882 RH

A BILL 

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 propose a person for debarment after receiving an 

13 offer for a contract from such person if— 

14 (A) such offer contains a certification (as 

15 required under subsection (a)(1)) that such per16 son has a seriously delinquent tax debt; or 

17 (B) the head of the agency receives infor18 mation from the Secretary of the Treasury (as 

19 authorized under subsection (a)(2)) dem20 onstrating that such a certification submitted 

21 by such person is false. 

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

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

24 based upon a written finding of urgent and compel25 ling circumstances significantly affecting the interVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:43 Apr 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H882.RH H882

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1 ests of the United States. If the head of an executive 

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

3 of the agency shall submit to Congress, within 30 

4 days after the waiver is made, a report containing 

5 the rationale for the waiver and relevant information 

6 supporting the waiver decision. 

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

8 the Treasury shall make available to all executive agencies 

9 a standard form for the authorization described in sub10 section (a). 

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

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

13 Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be revised to incor14 porate the requirements of this section. 

15 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE AND EVALUATION OF GRANT APPLI16 CATIONS FROM DELINQUENT FEDERAL 

17 DEBTORS. 

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

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

20 simplified acquisition threshold shall require each person 

21 applying for a grant to submit with the grant application 

22 a form— 

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

24 seriously delinquent tax debt; and 


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1 (2) authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to 

2 disclose to the head of the executive agency informa3 tion limited to describing whether the person has a 

4 seriously delinquent tax debt. 

5 (b) IMPACT ON DETERMINATION OF FINANCIAL STA6 BILITY.—The head of any executive agency, in evaluating 

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

8 consider a certification that the grant applicant has a seri9 ously delinquent tax debt to be definitive proof that the 

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

11 grant, shall take appropriate measures under guidelines 

12 issued by the Office of Management and Budget for en13 hanced oversight of high-risk grantees. 

14 (c) DEBARMENT.— 

15 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in 

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

17 propose a person for debarment after receiving a 

18 grant application from such person if— 

19 (A) such application contains a certifi20 cation (as required under subsection (a)(1)) 

21 that such person has a seriously delinquent tax 

22 debt; or 

23 (B) the head of the agency receives infor24 mation from the Secretary of the Treasury (as 

25 authorized under subsection (a)(2)) demVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:43 Apr 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H882.RH H882

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1 onstrating that such a certification submitted 

2 by such person is false. 

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

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

5 based upon a written finding of urgent and compel6 ling circumstances significantly affecting the inter7 ests of the United States. If the head of an executive 

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

9 of the agency shall submit to Congress, within 30 

10 days after the waiver is made, a report containing 

11 the rationale for the waiver and relevant information 

12 supporting the waiver decision. 

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

14 the Treasury shall make available to all executive agencies 

15 a standard form for the authorization described in sub16 section (a). 

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

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

19 Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 

20 revise such regulations as necessary to incorporate the re21 quirements of this section. 

22 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES. 

23 For purposes of this Act: 

24 (1) PERSON.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘person’’ in2 cludes— 

3 (i) an individual; 

4 (ii) a partnership; and 

5 (iii) a corporation. 

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

7 not include an individual seeking assistance 

8 through a grant entitlement program. 

9 (C) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PARTNER10 SHIPS.—A partnership shall be treated as a 

11 person with a seriously delinquent tax debt if 

12 such partnership has a partner who— 

13 (i) holds an ownership interest of 50 

14 percent or more in that partnership; and 

15 (ii) has a seriously delinquent tax 

16 debt. 

17 (D) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CORPORA18 TIONS.—A corporation shall be treated as a 

19 person with a seriously delinquent tax debt if 

20 such corporation has an officer or a shareholder 

21 who— 

22 (i) holds 50 percent or more, or a con23 trolling interest that is less than 50 per24 cent, of the outstanding shares of cor25 porate stock in that corporation; and 


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1 (ii) has a seriously delinquent tax 

2 debt. 

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

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

5 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

6 (3) SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT TAX DEBT.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘seriously de8 linquent tax debt’’ means an outstanding debt 

9 under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for 

10 which a notice of lien has been filed in public 

11 records pursuant to section 6323 of such Code. 

12 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term does not in13 clude— 

14 (i) a debt that is being paid in a time15 ly manner pursuant to an agreement under 

16 section 6159 or section 7122 of such Code; 

17 and 

18 (ii) a debt with respect to which a col19 lection due process hearing under section 

20 6330 of such Code, or relief under sub21 section (a), (b), or (f) of section 6015 of 

22 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. 


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Union Calendar No. 21 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 882 

[Report No. 113–35] 

A BILL 

To prohibit the awarding of a contract or grant in 

purposes. no seriously delinquent tax debts, and for other tract or grant that the contractor or grantee has tifies in writing to the agency awarding the conless the prospective contractor or grantee cerexcess of the simplified acquisition threshold unAPRIL 12, 2013 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS