RFI Tax Calculators for IRS Examination/Audit Business Processes

This is a Request for Information (RFI) (hereinafter Notice) pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10, Market Research. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, request for bids or quotations, nor, a promise to issue a solicitation in the future. This notice shall not be construed as either a solicitation or the obligation on the part of Government. The purpose of this RFI is to obtain knowledge and information for project planning and market research purposes only. Any response to this RFI will be treated as information only. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses to this notice, any follow up information response, or the Government use of such information. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement. The IRS will not be obligated to pursue any particular acquisition alternative as a result of this notice. Interested parties are solely responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. All data received in response to this notice that is marked or designated as corporate or proprietary information will be fully protected from release outside the Government. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information not properly identified. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with all applicable Government regulations. All documentation shall become the property of the Government and will not be returned. Interested parties are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback with respect to any information submitted. Further, respondents will NOT be notified individually of the results of the analysis or their specific response. The Government may issue an update to this notice highlighting non-proprietary, generic information around the information gathered (i.e., number of RFI responses) or updates to the program (i.e., the IRS anticipates pursuing X acquisition strategy through Y vehicle). Additionally, the Government reserves the right as a part of Market Research to contact and obtain additional information with all or some of the firms that respond to this RFI. FAR Clause 52.215-3 --Request for Information (Oct 1997) (a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (b) Although proposal and offeror are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. (c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of identifying information on Tax Calculators for IRS Examination/Audit Business Processes as listed below: BACKGROUND: The Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in support of its examination units (i.e., Large Business and International (LB&I)) is seeking information on potential tax software for individual taxpayers and pass-through entities in order to improve operational efficiency and security. This tax software would automate tax calculations and generate IRS examination reports for income tax examinations of individual taxpayers and pass-through entities. Although there are several technological and conceptual guardrails within which the solution would likely need to function, the IRS does not have a predefined idea of how a successful solution would need to function. IRS personnel currently perform tax calculations associated with examinations of tax returns and records. Calculations may include standard / frequent calculations based on individual forms, and ad hoc computations based on specific tax attributes. Currently these tax calculations are generated manually or through various applications and tools. The IRS does not have a predefined idea of how the solution should work as there are numerous specialized tax computation software products, each designed for specific audit types (individual returns, business returns, estate and gift tax returns, etc.).The IRS is open to a single solution/provider; however recognizes this may not be possible due to the number and types of calculations, and existing case management systems. IRS is looking for a solution/provider that addresses two overarching needs: 1) reduce the need to do manual calculations; 2) generate audit reports with tax calculation and supporting worksheet. As noted at the end of this RFI, there is no guarantee of a solicitation resulting from this RFI. Through this RFI, the IRS is looking to gain a better understanding of the types and capability of tax computation software offered by industry partners. As part of market research, the IRS may elect to have one-on-one conversations with a sub-set of the firms who respond to this RFI. It is also possible that the IRS will follow up with specific questions, hold a conference call providing specific examples from IRS personnel, or similar market research / industry engagement activities. Although there is no specific timeframe for these activities, it is likely this would occur over the next two to three months. SUBMISSION INFORMATION: Responses should not exceed 10 pages, excluding the cover page. Each response should include the following information: Cover Letter: Company Name, Company Address, Company Point of Contact, Phone and Email address; Type of Company (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, veteran owned, etc.) Any applicable contract number(s) and Task Area(s) appropriate for this notice; including the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number and North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code. Technical Capabilities: Capability statement that addresses organizational and staff experience and expertise. Given the above information, what experience do you have in providing computation software products for a large, complex and diverse amount of work? Provide an estimate of time you will need to design, develop, test and deploy your proposed solution. Identify whether your proposed solution will be a proprietary or a commercial off the shelf (COTS) product. If a COTS product, describe the tailoring effort. List three organizations to which similar types of services have been previously provided within the last three years - to include contract number, description of the requirement, dollar value, contract type, name and telephone number of the customer. Delivery timeframe required to install and set-up the product, verify compliance and conduct training. Does the delivery date vary on the item being purchase/ service being performed? Commercial practices (e.g. warranty, support, spare parts, limitation of liability, etc.). Possible solutions and approaches that may currently exist in the marketplace, and information regarding innovative ideas or concepts regarding the product or service in question. Are there qualifications/ certifications requirements for individuals or to the vendor as whole who is performing the services? If so, what are they and do they apply to this acquisition? The requested needs are: Tax computation software that is current with all tax laws, including Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and the related provisions. Tax computation software that allows analysis of multiple tax years at one time, tracking carrybacks and carryforwards of all tax attributes, including but not limited to all Credits, Capital Losses, Net Operating Losses, Passive Activity Losses, Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and other tax provisions. A tool that provides comparison of multiple scenarios for the same taxpayer and ability to save as different files. A tool that provides worksheets for various tax provisions, including but not limited to charitable contributions, Investment Interest expense, Net Investment Income Tax, AMT, US and Foreign Source Income calculations, Separate Limitation Loss (SLL), Overall Domestic Loss (ODL), and Overall Foreign Loss (OFL), carryforwards and utilization. A tool that can automatically and accurately compute penalties. A tool that can calculate tax for the most complex tax scenarios, including 100's of flow through entities, and income in excess of $1Billion. A tax computation tool that could integrate capabilities of generating Revenue Agent reports. A tax software that would be able to integrate with the future Enterprise Case Management software. Provide features of your solution regarding its ability to limit the amount of resources and errors associated with manual tax calculations. Does your solution automatically pre-populate calculations from prior years or related forms/situations, automatically generate schedules for carryforward and carryback credits, or provide capabilities to limit cut and paste activities? Provide a rough order of magnitude for a potential solution of this type, relative to the following: Less than $1M Between $1M and $5M More than $5M Questions in response to this RFI Notice may be submitted electronically on or before January 6, 2020 6:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The Government reserves the right to respond to some, all or none of the questions submitted. Vendors that meet the requirements described in this announcement are invited to submit their capability statements/RFI responses. The deadline for responses to this RFI is 5:00PM EDT, January 15, 2020. Responses should be forwarded via email to both the primary, ann.m.duncan@irs.gov and "cc" to kathleen.a.guyther@irs.gov. Responses shall not shall not contain any brochures, advertising or any other type of extraneous, graphic literature or documents that have not been requested and are not relevant or essential in demonstrating the company's ability to provide the required services. Vendors may provide links to relevant websites, as appropriate. Vendors shall reference - RFI Tax Calculators for IRS Examination/Audit Business Processes in the subject line of their response as well as in the subject line of any other e-mail correspondence referencing this notice. ** THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT RESPOND TO PHONE CALLS. ** Thank you for your interest. Primary Point of Contact: Ann Duncan, Management and Program Analyst, ann.m.duncan@irs.gov The purpose of this amendment is to answer questions: 1. Does the IRS require the tool to calculate the distributive share of partnership income, loss, etc. to the partners (i.e., partnership allocations)? Yes, we would need the capability to produce Forms 886-S/X/Z as appropriate for the entity (P/S, S-corp) showing the partner/shareholder allocations. Would also need the capability to override computed allocations to handle special allocations. 2. Does the IRS require the tool to handle partnership examination rules and procedures in effect under the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA)? We would need the option to produce forms 870-PT/LT as needed. 3. Does the IRS also require a tool to calculate taxable income for multiple corporate subsidiaries and consolidations to the parent (i.e., corporate consolidations)? No, the IRS does not reqiure a tool. 4. Is it the IRS's expectation that the partnership tool integrate directly with the individual tool - for example, an adjustment made at the partnership level would flow through to the impacted partners? That may be a nice option but not crucial. 4. Does the IRS require specific output reports, logs, or audit documentation? Yes, the ability to produce RAR's (4549A & B for 1040's/ 4605 for 1120S & Partnership and related waiver forms) and computational schedules similar to what is available in the CTA product.