Is GSA doing enough about contractor tax-delinquents?
A House committee wants the General Services Administration to ensure that its primary contractor database contains accurate information on companies that are delinquent on their taxes.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee told the General Services Administration to make sure the contractors in the agency’s primary supplier database aren't behind on their federal taxes even as they compete for and win new government contracts.
"The committee has questions about whether [GSA's System for Award Management] contains reliable, current information, and whether taxpayer money is subsidizing contractors that do not pay their own taxes," states a Nov. 22 letter from Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), chairman and ranking member of the committee, respectively.
Chaffetz and Cummings reminded GSA Administrator Denise Turner Roth that under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, contracting officers should not award contracts to companies that have delinquent federal tax debt and those officers must actively seek out that information before an award is made.
Federal agencies awarded $63.8 million in contracts in fiscal 2016 to contractors that collectively had $112 million in tax liens, according to an article in U.S. News and World Report in October. Those agencies include GSA, the National Institutes of Health and the IRS.
"Agencies must have access to up-to-date information so they can make informed acquisition decisions," Chaffetz and Cummings wrote.
By Dec. 6, the lawmakers want to know how GSA compiles, verifies, publishes and updates data on active contractor exclusions in SAM and how it ensures that contracting officers do not award contracts to companies with delinquent taxes.