Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Contracting and Tax 
Accountability Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. GOVERNMENTAL POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States Government that 
no Government contracts or grants should be awarded to 
individuals or companies with seriously delinquent Federal 
tax debts. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON AWARDING OF CONTRACTS TO DE-
LINQUENT FEDERAL DEBTORS. 
Section 3720B of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by adding at the end 
‘‘OR CONTRACTS’’; 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c)(1) Unless this subsection is waived by the head 
of a Federal agency, a person who has a seriously delin-
quent tax debt shall be proposed for debarment from any 
contract awarded by the Federal Government. 
‘‘(2) The head of any Federal agency that issues an 
invitation for bids or a request for proposals for a contract 
in an amount greater than the simplified acquisition 
threshold (as defined in section 4(11) of the Office of Federal 
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Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 401(11)) shall require 
each person that submits a bid or proposal to submit with 
the bid or proposal a form— 
‘‘(A) certifying that the person does not have a 
seriously delinquent tax debt; and 
‘‘(B) authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury 
to disclose to the head of the agency information lim-
ited to describing whether the person has a seriously 
delinquent tax debt. 
‘‘(3) The Secretary shall make available to all Federal 
agencies a standard form for the certification and author-
ization described in paragraph (2). 
‘‘(4) Not later than 270 days after the date of enact-
ment of this subsection, the Federal Acquisition Regulation 
shall be revised to incorporate the requirements of this sub-
section. 
‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection: 
‘‘(A) The term ‘contract’ means a binding agree-
ment entered into by a Federal agency for the purpose 
of obtaining property or services, but does not in-
clude— 
‘‘(i) a contract designated by the head of the 
agency as assisting the agency in the perform-
ance of disaster relief authorities; or 
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‘‘(ii) a contract designated by the head of 
the agency as necessary to the national security 
of the United States. 
‘‘(B)(i) The term ‘person’ includes— 
‘‘(I) an individual; 
‘‘(II) a partnership; and 
‘‘(III) a corporation. 
‘‘(ii) A partnership shall be treated as a person 
with a seriously delinquent tax debt if such partner-
ship has a partner who— 
‘‘(I) holds an ownership interest of 50 per-
cent or more in that partnership; and 
‘‘(II) who has a seriously delinquent tax 
debt. 
‘‘(iii) A corporation shall be treated as a person 
with a seriously delinquent tax debt if such corpora-
tion has an officer or a shareholder who— 
‘‘(I) holds 50 percent or more, or a control-
ling interest that is less than 50 percent, of the 
outstanding shares of corporate stock in that cor-
poration; and 
‘‘(II) who has a seriously delinquent tax 
debt. 
‘‘(C)(i) The term ‘seriously delinquent tax debt’ 
means an outstanding debt under the Internal Rev-
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enue Code of 1986 for which a notice of lien has been 
filed in public records pursuant to section 6323 of 
such Code. 
‘‘(ii) Such term does not include— 
‘‘(I) a debt that is being paid in a timely 
manner pursuant to an agreement under section 
6159 or section 7122 of such Code; and 
‘‘(II) a debt with respect to which a collec-
tion due process hearing under section 6330 of 
such Code, or relief under subsections (a), (b), or 
(f) of section 6015 of such Code, is requested or 
pending.’’. 
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON AWARDING OF GRANTS TO DELIN-
QUENT FEDERAL DEBTORS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The head of any Executive agency 
that offers a grant in excess of an amount equal to the sim-
plified acquisition threshold (as defined in section 4(11) of 
the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 
401(11)) may not award such grant to any person unless 
such person submits with the application for such grant a 
form— 
(1) certifying that the person does not have a se-
riously delinquent tax debt; and 
(2) authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to 
disclose to the head of the Executive agency informa-
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tion limited to describing whether the person has a se-
riously delinquent tax debt. 
(b) RELEASE OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall 
make available to all Executive agencies a standard form 
for the certification and authorization described in sub-
section (a)(2). 
(c) REVISION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 270 
days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Di-
rector of the Office of Management and Budget shall revise 
such regulations as necessary to incorporate the require-
ments of this section. 
(d) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes 
of this section: 
(1) PERSON.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘person’’ in-
cludes— 
(i) an individual; 
(ii) a partnership; and 
(iii) a corporation. 
(B) TREATMENT
OF
CERTAIN
PARTNER-
SHIPS.—A partnership shall be treated as a per-
son with a seriously delinquent tax debt if such 
partnership has a partner who— 
(i) holds an ownership interest of 50 
percent or more in that partnership; and 
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(ii) who has a seriously delinquent tax 
debt. 
(C) TREATMENT
OF
CERTAIN
CORPORA-
TIONS.—A corporation shall be treated as a per-
son with a seriously delinquent tax debt if such 
corporation has an officer or a shareholder 
who— 
(i) holds 50 percent or more, or a con-
trolling interest that is less than 50 percent, 
of the outstanding shares of corporate stock 
in that corporation; and 
(ii) who has a seriously delinquent tax 
debt. 
(2) EXECUTIVE
AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 
agency’’ has the meaning given such term in section 
4 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 
U.S.C. 403). 
(3) SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT TAX DEBT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘seriously de-
linquent tax debt’’ means an outstanding debt 
under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for 
which a notice of lien has been filed in public 
records pursuant to section 6323 of such Code. 
(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term does not in-
clude— 
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(i) a debt that is being paid in a time-
ly manner pursuant to an agreement under 
section 6159 or section 7122 of such Code; 
and 
(ii) a debt with respect to which a col-
lection due process hearing under section 
6330 of such Code, or relief under sub-
sections (a), (b), or (f) of section 6015 of 
such Code, is requested or pending. 
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Union Calendar No. 356 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4881 
[Report No. 110–578] 
A BILL 
To prohibit the awarding of a contract or grant in 
excess of the simplified acquisition threshold un-
less the prospective contractor or grantee cer-
tifies in writing to the agency awarding the con-
tract or grant that the contractor or grantee has 
no seriously delinquent tax debts, and for other 
purposes. 
APRIL 10, 2008 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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