Overview
This section prescribes the specific conditions under which a contracting officer must include the solicitation provision FAR 52.204-3, Taxpayer Identification, to ensure the government collects necessary tax reporting information from offerors.
Key Rules
- Mandatory Insertion: The contracting officer must include FAR 52.204-3 if the solicitation does not already include FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management (SAM).
- Part 12 Exclusion: This requirement does not apply to solicitations conducted using FAR Part 12 procedures for the acquisition of commercial products and commercial services.
- Information Collection: The provision serves as the mechanism to obtain the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and other reporting information directly from the offeror when that data is not available via the SAM database.
Practical Implications
- This section acts as a "safety net" to ensure the government meets IRS reporting requirements for vendors who are not required to be registered in SAM.
- Contracting officers must carefully check their provision logic to ensure they aren't omitting tax identification requirements when using simplified or non-standard acquisition methods that bypass SAM.