I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1562 
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 
MARCH 24, 2015 
Mr. CHAFFETZ (for himself and Ms. SPEIER) 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 2015’’. 
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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. DISCLOSURE AND EVALUATION OF CONTRACT OF-
FERS FROM DELINQUENT FEDERAL DEBT-
ORS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The head of any executive agency 
that issues an invitation for bids or a request for proposals 
for a contract in an amount greater than the simplified 
acquisition threshold shall require each person that sub-
mits a bid or proposal to submit with the bid or proposal 
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 agency information lim-
ited to describing whether the person has a seriously 
delinquent tax debt. 
(b) IMPACT ON RESPONSIBILITY DETERMINATION.— 
The head of any executive agency, in evaluating any offer 
received in response to a solicitation issued by the agency 
for bids or proposals for a contract, shall consider a certifi-
cation that the offeror has a seriously delinquent tax debt 
to be definitive proof that the offeror is not a responsible 
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source as defined in section 113 of title 41, United States 
Code. 
(c) DEBARMENT.— 
(1) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in 
paragraph (2), the head of an executive agency shall 
initiate a suspension or debarment proceeding 
against a person after receiving an offer for a con-
tract from such person if— 
(A) such offer contains a certification (as 
required under subsection (a)(1)) that such per-
son has a seriously delinquent tax debt; or 
(B) the head of the agency receives infor-
mation from the Secretary of the Treasury (as 
authorized 
under 
subsection 
(a)(2)) 
dem-
onstrating that such a certification submitted 
by such person is false. 
(2) WAIVER.—The head of an executive agency 
may waive paragraph (1) with respect to a person 
based upon a written finding of urgent and compel-
ling circumstances significantly affecting the inter-
ests of the United States. If the head of an executive 
agency waives paragraph (1) for a person, the head 
of the agency shall submit to Congress, within 30 
days after the waiver is made, a report containing 
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the rationale for the waiver and relevant information 
supporting the waiver decision. 
(d) RELEASE OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary of 
the Treasury, in consultation with the Director of the Of-
fice of Management and Budget, shall make available to 
all executive agencies a standard form for the authoriza-
tion described in subsection (a). 
(e) REVISION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 270 
days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 
Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be revised to incor-
porate the requirements of this section. 
SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE AND EVALUATION OF GRANT APPLI-
CATIONS 
FROM 
DELINQUENT 
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 shall require each person 
applying for a grant to submit with the grant application 
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 informa-
tion limited to describing whether the person has a 
seriously delinquent tax debt. 
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(b) IMPACT ON DETERMINATION OF FINANCIAL STA-
BILITY.—The head of any executive agency, in evaluating 
any application for a grant offered by the agency, shall 
consider a certification that the grant applicant has a seri-
ously delinquent tax debt to be definitive proof that the 
applicant is high-risk and, if the applicant is awarded the 
grant, shall take appropriate measures under guidelines 
issued by the Office of Management and Budget for en-
hanced oversight of high-risk grantees. 
(c) DEBARMENT.— 
(1) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in 
paragraph (2), the head of an executive agency shall 
initiate a suspension or debarment proceeding 
against a person after receiving a grant application 
from such person if— 
(A) such application contains a certifi-
cation (as required under subsection (a)(1)) 
that such person has a seriously delinquent tax 
debt; or 
(B) the head of the agency receives infor-
mation from the Secretary of the Treasury (as 
authorized 
under 
subsection 
(a)(2)) 
dem-
onstrating that such a certification submitted 
by such person is false. 
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(2) WAIVER.—The head of an executive agency 
may waive paragraph (1) with respect to a person 
based upon a written finding of urgent and compel-
ling circumstances significantly affecting the inter-
ests of the United States. If the head of an executive 
agency waives paragraph (1) for a person, the head 
of the agency shall submit to Congress, within 30 
days after the waiver is made, a report containing 
the rationale for the waiver and relevant information 
supporting the waiver decision. 
(d) RELEASE OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary of 
the Treasury, in consultation with the Director of the Of-
fice of Management and Budget, shall make available to 
all executive agencies a standard form for the authoriza-
tion described in subsection (a). 
(e) 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. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) PERSON.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘person’’ in-
cludes— 
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(i) an individual; 
(ii) a partnership; and 
(iii) a corporation. 
(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘person’’ does 
not include an individual seeking assistance 
through a grant entitlement program. 
(C) 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) has a seriously delinquent tax 
debt. 
(D) TREATMENT
OF
CERTAIN
CORPORA-
TIONS.—A corporation shall be treated as a 
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) has a seriously delinquent tax 
debt. 
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(2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 
agency’’ has the meaning given such term in section 
133 of title 41, United States Code. 
(3) SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT TAX DEBT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘seriously de-
linquent tax debt’’ means a Federal tax liability 
that— 
(i) has been assessed by the Secretary 
of the Treasury under the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986, and 
(ii) may be collected by the Secretary 
by levy or by a proceeding in court. 
(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; 
(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; 
(iii) a debt with respect to which a 
continuous levy has been issued under sec-
tion 6331 of such Code (or, in the case of 
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an applicant for employment, a debt with 
respect to which the applicant agrees to be 
subject to such a levy); and 
(iv) a debt with respect to which such 
a 
levy 
is 
released 
under 
section 
6343(a)(1)(D) of such Code. 
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act shall apply with respect to contracts and 
grants awarded on or after the date occurring 270 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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