I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 572 

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 

JANUARY 15, 2009 

Mr. ELLSWORTH (for himself and Mr. TOWNS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

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. 

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 2009’’. 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
2 

•HR 572 IH

1 SEC. 2. GOVERNMENTAL POLICY. 

2 It is the policy of the United States Government that 

3 no Government contracts or grants should be awarded to 

4 individuals or companies with seriously delinquent Federal 

5 tax debts. 

6 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON AWARDING OF CONTRACTS TO 

7 DELINQUENT FEDERAL DEBTORS. 

8 Section 3720B of title 31, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in the section heading, by adding at the end 

11 ‘‘or contracts’’; 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(c)(1) Unless this subsection is waived by the head 

14 of a Federal agency, a person who has a seriously delin15 quent tax debt shall be proposed for debarment from any 

16 contract awarded by the Federal Government. 

17 ‘‘(2) The head of any Federal agency that issues an 

18 invitation for bids or a request for proposals for a contract 

19 in an amount greater than the simplified acquisition 

20 threshold (as defined in section 4(11) of the Office of Fed21 eral Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 401(11)) shall re22 quire each person that submits a bid or proposal to submit 

23 with the bid or proposal a form— 

24 ‘‘(A) certifying that the person does not have a 

25 seriously delinquent tax debt; and 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
3 

•HR 572 IH

1 ‘‘(B) authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury 

2 to disclose to the head of the agency information 

3 limited to describing whether the person has a seri4 ously delinquent tax debt. 

5 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall make available to all Federal 

6 agencies a standard form for the certification and author7 ization described in paragraph (2). 

8 ‘‘(4) Not later than 270 days after the date of enact9 ment of this subsection, the Federal Acquisition Regula10 tion shall be revised to incorporate the requirements of 

11 this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection: 

13 ‘‘(A) The term ‘contract’ means a binding 

14 agreement entered into by a Federal agency for the 

15 purpose of obtaining property or services, but does 

16 not include— 

17 ‘‘(i) a contract designated by the head of 

18 the agency as assisting the agency in the per19 formance of disaster relief authorities; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) a contract designated by the head of 

21 the agency as necessary to the national security 

22 of the United States. 

23 ‘‘(B)(i) The term ‘person’ includes— 

24 ‘‘(I) an individual; 

25 ‘‘(II) a partnership; and 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
4 

•HR 572 IH

1 ‘‘(III) a corporation. 

2 ‘‘(ii) A partnership shall be treated as a person 

3 with a seriously delinquent tax debt if such partner4 ship has a partner who— 

5 ‘‘(I) holds an ownership interest of 50 per6 cent or more in that partnership; and 

7 ‘‘(II) who has a seriously delinquent tax 

8 debt. 

9 ‘‘(iii) A corporation shall be treated as a person 

10 with a seriously delinquent tax debt if such corpora11 tion has an officer or a shareholder who— 

12 ‘‘(I) holds 50 percent or more, or a con13 trolling interest that is less than 50 percent, of 

14 the outstanding shares of corporate stock in 

15 that corporation; and 

16 ‘‘(II) who has a seriously delinquent tax 

17 debt. 

18 ‘‘(C)(i) The term ‘seriously delinquent tax debt’ 

19 means an outstanding debt under the Internal Rev20 enue Code of 1986 for which a notice of lien has 

21 been filed in public records pursuant to section 6323 

22 of such Code. 

23 ‘‘(ii) Such term does not include— 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
5 

•HR 572 IH

1 ‘‘(I) a debt that is being paid in a timely 

2 manner pursuant to an agreement under sec3 tion 6159 or section 7122 of such Code; and 

4 ‘‘(II) a debt with respect to which a collec5 tion due process hearing under section 6330 of 

6 such Code, or relief under subsection (a), (b), 

7 or (f) of section 6015 of such Code, is re8 quested or pending.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON AWARDING OF GRANTS TO DELIN10 QUENT FEDERAL DEBTORS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of any Executive agency 

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

13 simplified acquisition threshold (as defined in section 

14 4(11) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 

15 U.S.C. 401(11)) may not award such grant to any person 

16 unless such person submits with the application for such 

17 grant a form— 

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

19 seriously delinquent tax debt; and 

20 (2) authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to 

21 disclose to the head of the Executive agency infor22 mation limited to describing whether the person has 

23 a seriously delinquent tax debt. 

24 (b) RELEASE OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary 

25 shall make available to all Executive agencies a standard 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
6 

•HR 572 IH

1 form for the certification and authorization described in 

2 subsection (a)(2). 

3 (c) REVISION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 270 

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

5 Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 

6 revise such regulations as necessary to incorporate the re7 quirements of this section. 

8 (d) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur9 poses of this section: 

10 (1) PERSON.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘person’’ in12 cludes— 

13 (i) an individual; 

14 (ii) a partnership; and 

15 (iii) a corporation. 

16 (B) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PARTNER17 SHIPS.—A partnership shall be treated as a 

18 person with a seriously delinquent tax debt if 

19 such partnership has a partner who— 

20 (i) holds an ownership interest of 50 

21 percent or more in that partnership; and 

22 (ii) who has a seriously delinquent tax 

23 debt. 

24 (C) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CORPORA25 TIONS.—A corporation shall be treated as a 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
7 

•HR 572 IH

1 person with a seriously delinquent tax debt if 

2 such corporation has an officer or a shareholder 

3 who— 

4 (i) holds 50 percent or more, or a con5 trolling interest that is less than 50 per6 cent, of the outstanding shares of cor7 porate stock in that corporation; and 

8 (ii) who has a seriously delinquent tax 

9 debt. 

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

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

12 4 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act 

13 (41 U.S.C. 403). 

14 (3) SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT TAX DEBT.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘seriously de16 linquent tax debt’’ means an outstanding debt 

17 under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for 

18 which a notice of lien has been filed in public 

19 records pursuant to section 6323 of such Code. 

20 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term does not in21 clude— 

22 (i) a debt that is being paid in a time23 ly manner pursuant to an agreement under 

24 section 6159 or section 7122 of such Code; 

25 and 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
8 

•HR 572 IH

1 (ii) a debt with respect to which a col2 lection due process hearing under section 

3 6330 of such Code, or relief under sub4 section (a), (b), or (f) of section 6015 of 

5 such Code, is requested or pending. 

Æ 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS