TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR TAX
ADMINISTRATION
VOUCHER AUDIT OF THE INFORMATION
PROCESSING SUPPORT SERVICES CONTRACT – TIRNO-00-D-00009
Issued on February 27, 2007
Highlights
Highlights of
Report Number: 2007-10-050 to the
Internal Revenue Service Chief, Agency-Wide Shared Services.
IMPACT ON TAXPAYERS
Contract
expenditures represent a significant outlay of Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
funds. TIGTA has made a commitment to
perform audits of these expenditures. To
the extent our reviews assist the IRS in identifying and recovering inaccurate,
unsupported, and unallowable charges, contract expenditures are reduced and
taxpayer funds are saved.
WHY TIGTA DID THE AUDIT
This audit was initiated to determine whether selected vouchers
submitted and paid under contract number TIRNO-00-D-00009 were appropriate and
in accordance with the contract’s terms and conditions.
The purpose of the audit was to answer the following
questions:
1. What
process did the IRS establish for voucher verification prior to certifying
payment to the contractor?
2. Were the voucher
charges submitted by the contractor and paid by the IRS accurate, supported,
and allowable?
3. Were the
deliverables obtained through the contract acceptable as stipulated in the
contract?
WHAT
TIGTA FOUND
Our review identified
$3,411,179.10 in questionable charges. The
questionable charges include:
·
$2,117,766.59 for
consultant résumés not provided by the contractor.
·
$792,986.92 for the
use of unqualified consultants.
·
$289,040.65 for
improper experience waivers provided to consultants by the IRS.
·
$178,913.67 for
subcontractor résumés not provided by the contractor.
·
$32,471.27 for
unsupported labor hours, subcontractor charges, and travel charges.
The IRS does
not have a complete voucher verification process established, especially in the
area of confirming that consultants working on IRS contracts are qualified
under the terms of those contracts. Allowing
a contractor to use consultants who may not meet the requirements of the
positions for which they are being charged could provide the contractor with an
unfair advantage over other prospective contractors who did not bid on the
solicitation because they did not have sufficient staff that met those specific
contract requirements as stipulated in the solicitation.
This contract was designed to provide sources of information
processing support services for the Department of the Treasury, the IRS, and
other Department of the Treasury bureaus.
The IRS was to be the primary user in the following four areas: Information Systems Services,
Telecommunications Support Services, Organizational/Management Services, and
Operational Support Services. During the review, nothing came to our
attention that would lead us to believe there were significant problems with
contractor performance or any of the deliverables associated with the vouchers
included in our tests.
WHAT TIGTA RECOMMENDED
TIGTA
recommended the Director, Procurement, require the appropriate Contracting
Officer to (1) review the identified questionable charges of $3,411,179.10 and
initiate any recovery actions deemed warranted and (2) review the violations of
the contract regarding qualification waivers and initiate any recovery actions
or ratify the waivers, as warranted.
In
their response to the report, IRS officials agreed with our
recommendations. The Contracting Officer
has reviewed the questionable charges and
has requested additional supporting documentation from the contractor. The Contracting Officer will analyze the
additional information and determine whether recovery of all or a portion of
the questionable charges is warranted.
In addition, the Contracting Officer will ensure the process for
granting experience waivers complies with contractual requirements.
READ THE
FULL REPORT
To view the report,
including the scope, methodology, and full IRS response, go to:
http://www.treas.gov/tigta/auditreports/2007reports/200710050fr.html.
Email
Address: Bonnie.Heald@tigta.treas.gov
Phone
Number: 202-927-7037
Web Site: http://www.tigta.gov