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 con-
tractor 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 prospec-
tive contractor or grantee certifies in writing to the agen-
cy awarding the contract or grant that the contractor 
or grantee has no seriously delinquent tax debts, and 
for other purposes. 
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 2009’’. 
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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 
DELINQUENT 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 Fed-
eral Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 401(11)) shall re-
quire 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 
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‘‘(B) authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury 
to disclose to the head of the agency information 
limited to describing whether the person has a seri-
ously 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 Regula-
tion shall be revised to incorporate the requirements of 
this subsection. 
‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection: 
‘‘(A) The term ‘contract’ means a binding 
agreement entered into by a Federal agency for the 
purpose of obtaining property or services, but does 
not include— 
‘‘(i) a contract designated by the head of 
the agency as assisting the agency in the per-
formance of disaster relief authorities; or 
‘‘(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 
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‘‘(I) a debt that is being paid in a timely 
manner pursuant to an agreement under sec-
tion 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 subsection (a), (b), 
or (f) of section 6015 of such Code, is re-
quested 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 
simplified 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 
seriously delinquent tax debt; and 
(2) authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to 
disclose to the head of the Executive agency infor-
mation limited to describing whether the person has 
a seriously delinquent tax debt. 
(b) RELEASE
OF
INFORMATION.—The Secretary 
shall make available to all Executive agencies a standard 
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form for the certification and authorization described in 
subsection (a)(2). 
(c) REVISION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 270 
days after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 
revise such regulations as necessary to incorporate the re-
quirements of this section. 
(d) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur-
poses 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 
person 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 
(ii) who has a seriously delinquent tax 
debt. 
(C) TREATMENT
OF
CERTAIN
CORPORA-
TIONS.—A corporation shall be treated as a 
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person 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 per-
cent, of the outstanding shares of cor-
porate 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— 
(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 
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(ii) a debt with respect to which a col-
lection due process hearing under section 
6330 of such Code, or relief under sub-
section (a), (b), or (f) of section 6015 of 
such Code, is requested or pending. 
Æ 
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