Notice of Intent to Sole Source

This notice is posted in accordance with FAR 6.305(a). The Government awarded a sole source non-monetary, zero-dollar commercial item contract to Official Payments Corp., on August 1, 2014 under the authority of FAR 6.302-1 - Only one Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. The period of performance is for 30 days, from August 1 - August 31, 2014. The contract was for an electronic payment product that allows taxpayers to make federal tax payments through convenient, safe and secure means and to collect the appropriate service fees from the taxpayer to cover all costs incurred to deliver the services requested by the U.S. Government. No other contractors could provide these services without having undergone extensive required Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) and IRS Cybersecurity testing to ensure that the IRS e-Payment Credit Card Program requirements are met without delay for the upcoming filing season. This transition process takes a minimum of eight (8) months. A sole source commercial item contract was required because the previous contract expired on June 30, 2014. A competitive RFP has been issued, but was not awarded before June 30, 2014. It was critical to the IRS mission that the services provided under the previous contract not be interrupted.