SSN Draft SOW - Comprehensive Research.pdf

Comprehensive Research Services – Draft Statement of Work

Table of Contents

C.1 Executive Summary C.2 Notification of Changes to Content or Service C.3 IRS Computing Environment C.4 Comprehensive Research Services C.5 Managing and Supporting the Contract

C.1 Executive Summary

C.1.1 The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is committed to providing standardized, consistent electronic research services to employees throughout the country. The acquisition and management of these research services are centralized under the Office of Servicewide Policy, Directives, and Electronic Resources (SPDER). The objective of this Statement of Work (SOW) is to obtain, through competitively awarded fixed-price contracts, a suite of robust electronic research services to meet the agency’s electronic research needs.

The IRS has a wide range of diverse users with different and unique tax, legal, business and news research requirements. The principal use of electronic research services is to complete a full analysis of a tax return, whether as part of the audit process, collection process, or assistance process. This improves the quality of cases, assists in the fair application of the laws, and helps frontline assistors resolve taxpayer questions. Users of these research materials are primarily: Taxpayer Resolution Representatives, Customer Service Representatives, Revenue Officers, Revenue Agents, International Agents, Attorneys, Employment Tax Personnel, Tax Compliance Officers, Appeals Officers, Estate and Gift Tax Attorneys, Employee Plans Specialists, Exempt Organizations Specialists, and Librarians.

Additionally, employees in other disciplines use the legal, business and news services to:

Research personnel and labor law, Conduct statistical and trend analysis, Research academic journals and publications related to tax administration, and Identify industry news and trends.

These employees primarily include: Economists, General Legal Attorneys, Personnel Specialists, Labor Relation Specialists, Statisticians, and Operational Research Specialists.

The IRS will purchase services for a fixed number of users which can be increased or decreased at negotiated intervals, which will occur no more than twice a year. Approximately 20,000 IRS employees are users of research services. Anticipated users for each award group are described under the award group requirements.

Contractors shall fully describe how their offering will satisfy the diverse population of users and research requirements. This includes not only a description of content and functionality, but also shall include a detailed implementation and operation plans as described in section C.9.

Contractors will be evaluated on how well their proposal meets the requirements and objectives of this SOW along with their completeness and clarity in addressing the Government’s requirements.

C.2 Notification of Changes to Content or Service

C.2.1 Standardization is a significant component of the IRS electronic research strategy. The IRS understands that content is continually being added and deleted to the commercial research services, but it is the intent of this Statement of Work (SOW) that all sources of content proposed by the contractor to satisfy either mandatory or highly desirable criteria in this solicitation will be continuously available and kept current throughout the life of the contract. The contractor shall provide a response for each of the below requirements, agreeing to and/or explaining any deviations.

C.2.2 The contractor shall provide monthly notification to the Contracting Officer and the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) of all sources being added and all sources being dropped that are within the scope of this contract. If third party negotiations prevent monthly notice, the contractor shall advise the IRS as soon as it is permissible to provide such notification.

C.2.3 If the IRS determines that a dropped source is essential, the COR will request from the contractor a list of comparable offered replacement sources.

C.2.4 The government reserves the right to approve offered replacement sources. If the comparable sources offered by the contractor are not acceptable to the Government, the contractor shall propose price reductions for those discontinued sources. Any price reductions shall take effect on the date the sources are no longer available online.

C.2.5 The contractor shall notify the COR at least 30 days in advance of any changes in operation or functionality of the research system. If such proposed changes are unacceptable to the IRS, the COR will initiate discussions with the contractor to resolve the situation.

C.2.6 The contractor shall not charge the IRS for any system or product upgrades, new functionality, or expanded content that are already part of the library purchased by the IRS, and/or are part of the contractor’s continual product development and enhancement.

C.3 IRS Computing Environment

C.3.1 Background Information

C.3.1.1 A web browser currently serves as the end-user interface for Government office workers accessing Internet-based commercial services. A few employees access research sites through mobile computing devices such as smart phones.

C.3.1.2 Offsite Government users typically conduct research by logging into the IRS network using virtual private network (VPN) communication software.

C.3.2 Technical Requirements

C.3.2.1 Any research service offered as a Windows or web-based system shall run under all the following:

Windows 10 or Windows 11 operating systems Microsoft Edge web browser;

All successor Microsoft operating systems and web browsers adopted by the IRS during this contract.

C.3.2.2 Any external web-based service shall be implemented in a manner that eliminates any reasonable security concerns regarding the use of Java applets, ActiveX or similar client-side processing. If any such add-in applications are used, the contractor shall work with the COR for security testing and implementation.

C.4 Comprehensive Research Services

C.4.1 Overall Requirements

C.4.1.1 This is a comprehensive research service that contains tax, legal, news, and business sources and products.

C.4.1.2 The contractor shall list all sources being offered to meet the mandatory and highly desirable content.

C.4.1.3 The contractor shall distinguish between databases that contain only abstract information and those that contain full text data.

C.4.2 Mandatory Content:

C.4.2.1 Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) - The IRM is the official source of all IRS policies, procedures and guidelines.

C.4.2.2 Legal and Administrative Content

Internal Revenue Code U.S. Tax Treaties Income Tax Regulations (Final, Temporary, and Proposed) Legislative History of Internal Revenue Code Sections Internal Revenue Bulletins and Cumulative Bulletins Revenue Rulings Revenue Procedures Announcements Notices Chief Counsel Guidance, including but not limited to:

Private Letter Rulings Technical Advice Memoranda General Counsel Memoranda Actions on Decisions Field Service Advice Service Center Advice

Industry Specialization Program (ISP) Coordinated Issue Papers

Market Segment Specialization Program (MSSP) Audit Technique Guides

All current IRS Taxpayer Publications Treasury Decisions and Orders;

Tax-Related Executive Orders

C.4.2.3 Full-Text Judicial Decisions are those decisions within the federal court system handed down by judges in tax matters that decide questions of fact or questions of law, including but not limited to:

Bankruptcy Court (Tax Cases) Board of Tax Appeals (Regular & Memorandum Decisions) Tax Court of the United States (Regular & Memorandum

Decisions) United States Tax Court (Regular & Memorandum Decisions) United States District Court United States Court of Federal Claims

United States Circuit Court of Appeals United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit United States Supreme Court

C.4.2.4 At least one commercial tax service.

C.4.2.4.1 Commercial tax services are commentaries on tax law and are generally categorized into two types:

Annotated tax services - organized by IRC section and are explanatory in nature.

Topical tax services - organized by broad topic or issue and are analytical in nature.

C.4.2.4.2 The contractor shall provide a listing of all the commercial tax services offered in their proposal.

C.4.2.5 Full Legal Sources – Full Legal sources are all the primary and secondary sources of information covering all areas of law. At minimum, full legal sources consist of the following:

C.4.2.5.1 Federal and state law including, but not limited to:

Statutes;

Constitutions;

Treaties;

Regulations (including code of federal regulations and federal acquisition regulations);

State court and federal court reported cases;

All bankruptcy court cases;

All Supreme Court cases;

Board of Contract Appeal cases; and Agency pronouncements or opinions.

C.4.2.5.2 Judicial interpretations and legal briefs.

C.4.2.5.3 Federal and state legislative materials, including supporting legislative tracking, and research on legislative history.

C.4.2.5.4 Secondary legal research sources, including:

Restatements of Law;

An annotated U.S. Code;

Law encyclopedias (such as American Jurisprudence or

Corpus Juris Secundum;)

Law journals;

Law reviews;

Analytical reports;

Legal abstracts;

Legal treatises;

Legal articles;

Legal directories; and Legal dictionaries.

C.4.2.5.5 United States Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure

C.4.2.6 Business Sources - Provide access to company and financial information. Sources include but are not limited to:

Public financial information;

Corporate annual reports;

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings;

Current and historical stock, bond, and currency quotations;

Corporate officer/principal data and corporate asset data;

Domestic company reports and information;

International company reports and information;

Directories or registers of executives and directors;

Corporate affiliations directories;

Financial analysts reports of domestic and foreign entities; and Banking Directories.

C.4.2.7 News Sources - Provide access to all domestic and international news information from local, regional, national and international sources. News sources include but are not limited to:

Newspapers;

Business & Financial Periodicals;

Other Periodicals (Economics, Insurance, Labor, Securities, International, etc.);

Journals/Magazines/Newsletters;

Wire Services; and Television and Radio Transcripts.

C.4.3 Mandatory Features

C.4.3.1 Searching –The product shall allow the use of multiple search methods and have all the following search options available:

Boolean logic searches;

Proximity searches;

Exact phrase searches;

Conceptual or natural language searches and Search by citation

C.4.3.2 Help – The product shall have:

A comprehensive Help feature, and A comprehensive user guide or manual

C.4.3.3 A tax citator which provides the history of federal tax related judicial and administrative interpretations.

C.4.3.4 A legal citator which provides the history of all federal and state judicial and administrative interpretations. While a tax citator is a valuable resource in conducting tax research, a tax citator alone will not meet the requirement to provide full legal content.

C.4.4 Highly Desirable Content –

C.4.4.1 Secondary Tax Research Material - The contractor shall provide detailed listings of content that is being offered.

C.4.4.2 It is highly desirable that the contractor not display links to content that the IRS cannot access.

C.4.4.3 Secondary Tax Research Material - The contractor shall provide detailed listings of content that is offered in the following categories.

Topics and titles are listed for example only and are not all inclusive.

C.4.4.3.1 Books/Treatises (List specific title/topic & author)

Taxation of Corporations & Shareholders;

Consolidated Returns;

Depreciation;

Tax Shelters;

Taxation of Inventories;

Taxation of Life Insurance Companies;

Taxation of Public Utilities;

Taxation of Partnerships and Partners;

Taxation of S Corporations;

Limited Liability Guide;

Federal Tax Accounting;

IRS Practice and Procedure;

Unified Audit & Litigation Procedures for Pass-Through

Entities;

Corporate Acquisitions and Mergers; and Bank Secrecy Act (Title 31)

C.4.4.3.2 Journals/Magazines/Newsletters (list specific titles & topics)

Daily Tax Report;

Tax Notes Today;

Journal of Taxation

C.4.4.3.3 Additional Secondary Tax Research Material

United States Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure;

Statement of Responsibilities in Tax Practice (AICPA);

American Bar Association (ABA) Ethics Opinions

(Taxation);

Treasury Circular 230;

Academic Journals;

Intellectual Property

C.4.4.4 Specialized Content

C.4.4.4.1 General Information

C.4.4.4.1.1 IRS has users with unique research needs. This section provides information about many of these groups, including the number of employees who will use these sources and examples of research materials they might use.

C.4.4.4.1.2 Topics and titles are listed for example and are not all inclusive.

C.4.4.4.2 Employee Plans Sources

C.4.4.4.2.1 Books/Treatises

ERISA Practice and Procedure;

ERISA Outline Book

C.4.4.4.2.2 Journals/Magazines/Newsletters

Employee Benefit News;

Labor and Employment

C.4.4.4.3 Exempt Organizations Sources

C.4.4.4.3.1 Books/Treatises

Taxation of Exempt Organizations;

Fundamentals of Municipal Bond Law;

Municipal Bonds Deskbook;

Federal Taxation of Municipal Bonds;

Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law;

Kappler’s Indian Affairs and Treaties; and American Indian Law (William Canby Jr.)

C.4.4.4.3.2 Journals/Magazines/Newsletters

Exempt Organizations Tax Review Magazine;

Journal of Tax Exempt Organizations;

Valuation Appraisals;

The Bond Buyer;

Tax Journal for Tax Exempt Bonds;

Municipal Finance Journal;

Indian Country Today;

Native American Casino; and Indian Gaming.

C.4.4.4.4 Estate & Gift Sources

C.4.4.4.4.1 Books/Treatises

Federal Gift and Estate Taxation Taxation on Real Estate Taxation of Trusts and Estates

C.4.4.4.4.2 Journals/Magazines/Newsletters

Estate Gifts & Trust Journal Estate Planning

C.4.4.4.5 Employment Tax Sources

Social Security Handbook, SSA Publication No. 65-

C.4.4.4.6 Bankruptcy Sources

Collier on Bankruptcy Bankruptcy Law Reporter

C.4.4.4.7 Accounting Sources

C.4.4.4.7.1 Books/Treatises

Accounting for Income Taxes AICPA Technical Practice Aids, Guides, and

Checklists Financial Statement Preparation Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting

(OCBOA) Reports Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Reporting Small Business Audits The Auditor's Report

C.4.4.4.7.2 Journals/Magazines/Newsletters

The Journal of Accountancy;

Accounting Today

C.4.4.4.7.3 Authoritative Literature

Accounting Principles Board (APBs) opinions;

Accounting Research Bulletins (ARBs);

AICPA Professional Standards;

AICPA Statements of Position;

FASB Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) issues;

FASB Interpretations;

FASB Technical Bulletins;

Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)

Statements; and NAIC – All Proceedings.

C.4.4.4.8 International Sources

C.4.4.4.8.1 Books/Treatises

Corporate Acquisitions and Mergers (International);

Australian Tax Guide;

Foreign Tax Credits;

International Tax Treaties;

U.S. International Taxation;

U.S. Transfer Pricing Guide;

Canadian Tax Guide;

China Tax Guide;

Germany Tax Guide;

France Tax Guide;

Japanese Tax Guide;

Mexican Tax Guide; and United Kingdom Tax Guide

C.4.4.4.8.2 Journals/Magazines/Newsletters

Journal of International Taxation;

Insurance Tax Review Magazine;

Transfer Pricing Report;

Worldwide Tax Daily; and International Law Digest

C.4.4.4.9 Financial Sources

C.4.4.4.9.1 Books/Treatises

Taxation of Financial Institutions Taxations of Securities Transactions

C.4.4.4.9.2 Journals/Magazines/Newsletters

Business Week;

Financial Times;

Money Laundering Journal;

The Economist;

Investext; and Harvard Business Review.

C.4.4.4.10 Industry Sources

C.4.4.4.10.1 Books/Treatises

Banking;

Construction;

Natural Resources;

Manufacturing;

Mining;

Communications;

Financial Products;

Transportation;

Pharmaceutical;

Healthcare;

Retail;

Food;

Excise; and Trusts.

C.4.4.4.11 Additional Legal Research Material

Dockets;

Government Contracts;

Legal Employment and Professional Responsibility;

Expert Reports;

Federal Practice Digest;

Arbitration rules and commentaries;

Moore’s Manual: Federal Practice and Procedure;

American Law Reports;

Lawyers Manual on Professional Conduct /

Reference and Current Reports;

District Court Case Pleadings and Motions; and State Trial Filings.

C.4.5 Highly Desirable Features

C.4.5.1 The contractor shall provide a detailed description of the features available in the electronic research system offered. The description should include, but not be limited to, capabilities such as:

Searching;

Customization options;

Work log and search history;

Online help;

Delivery Options; and Navigating within a document.

C.4.5.2 It is highly desirable that the product allows for a word search of legal and editorial sources without the selection of individual databases and arranges search results by category.

C.4.5.3 It is highly desirable that the product allow for filtering and retrieving citing references to a subsection within a statute or regulation.

C.4.5.4 It is highly desirable that the product offer assistance via a “chat” feature which allows real-time access to assistors.

C.4.5.5 It is highly desirable that the search engine has an artificial-intelligence component.

C.5 Managing and Supporting the Contract

C.5.1 IRS has centralized the selection and purchase of electronic research services under SPDER. Contractors are not permitted to directly market new services to the end users. All requests for new content and all requests to demonstrate products shall be coordinated with the COR.

C.5.2 All press releases referencing this contract shall be coordinated with the

COR.

C.5.3 The contractor shall submit an Implementation and Operation (I/O) plan for each of the following categories:

Customer Service Support Training Support Marketing Support Enterprise Access Solution Contract Reviews and Reports

C.5.4 Each plan shall address how the contractor will implement contract requirements, and will be evaluated as to how well it meets the requirements of this SOW.

C.5.5 Customer Service Support

C.5.5.1 Mandatory Requirements:

C.5.5.1.1 At a minimum, the Contractor shall provide standard support normally provided to commercial clients to assist in resolving technical problems. The contractor shall provide a description of customer service and technical support provided to ensure the customer's issues are resolved.

C.5.5.1.2 The contractor shall describe how it will provide instructions and guidance in the installation, configuration, and maintenance of any software for both the initial installation and for all software upgrades.

C.5.5.1.3 Support shall be available 12 hours a day, Monday through Friday.

C.5.5.2 Highly Desirable Requirement:

C.5.5.2.1 It is highly desirable that technical support be available via telephone 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

C.5.6 Training Support

C.5.6.1 The IRS has moved to an E-learning strategy to complement the traditional classroom-based approach. The contract shall specify how it will support e-learning for IRS employees.

C.5.6.2 At a minimum, the Contractor shall provide the standard commercial training package normally provided to commercial customers. The Training Plan shall include a description of:

The contractor's standard commercial training package;

The training package designed for this award;

The support available to all end users;

Any other information demonstrating a commitment to train all end users (e.g. willingness to customize training to account for the needs of specific user groups);

The types of training materials available to each end user;

The number of hours involved with respect to each method of training; and The contractor’s schedule for updating training material whenever significant product changes are made.

C.5.6.3 The contractor shall not teach content, features, or enhancements that are not included in the contract.

C.5.6.4 Highly Desirable Requirement:

C.5.6.4.1 It is highly desirable that periodic electronic and print newsletters with tips for searching and using the system be offered.

C.5.7 Marketing Support

C.5.7.1 In addition to training, the IRS and Treasury may ask the contractor to attend special events (conferences. continuing professional education (CPE) sessions, national or regional meetings) to promote awareness of their products. Contractors may be invited to attend these events as exhibitors, presenters or as participants.

Contractors shall coordinate attendance at all such activities with the COR.

C.5.7.2 Mandatory Requirements:

C.5.7.2.1 The contractor shall submit a "Marketing Plan" outlining the type of activities the contractor intends to support, sponsor or promote. At a minimum, the plan shall include a description of:

The types of events the contractor is willing to attend/not attend, The geographic locations the contractor is willing to attend/not attend, The types of material the contractor is willing to provide for these special events, and

The lead time required for attendance at special events

C.5.8 Enterprise Access Solution

C.5.8.1 The IRS and Treasury seek flexibility in providing access to the contractor’s system. It is mandatory that the contractor propose an enterprise solution for managing user access that will be available no later than the contract start date. Examples of information to be included in the enterprise-solution description include, but are not limited to:

how access to their system will be managed both at time of initial roll-out to IRS and during ongoing operation;

the technical support offered to ensure problems are resolved, both during the initial roll-out phase of the contract and during ongoing operation.

The IRS will provide guidance to the contractor regarding any automated solution.

C.5.8.2 Mandatory Features

C.5.8.2.1 At a minimum, the following data are considered mandatory elements of any automated solution:

Name;

E-mail addresses; and IRS Business Unit.

C.5.8.2.2 The contractor shall provide IRS with the ability to create a report listing all users of the system, which includes all information that has been captured for each user.

C.5.8.3 Highly Desirable Features

C.5.8.3.1 If IDs must be generated, it is highly desirable that the proposed enterprise solution allows a cadre of IRS administrators (approximately 20) to create and manage ID's and/or passwords.

C.5.8.3.2 It is highly desirable that the enterprise solution allow administrators full access to all IRS users’ information through a single login.

C.5.8.3.3 It is highly desirable that the enterprise solution allow administrators to review and/or edit any IRS user’s information through a single search.

C.5.8.3.4 It is highly desirable that the proposed enterprise solution allows the ability to search by any user information, the ability to remove access for a user, and the ability to edit user information in the system.

C.5.8.3.5 If IDs must be generated, it is highly desirable that the proposed enterprise solution allow ID Administrators to download/export reports of users within their IRS Business Unit to a spreadsheet for internal use.

C.5.8.3.6 It is highly desirable that changes to the enterprise access solution be implemented at no additional cost to the government. (For example, changes to the IRS Organizational structure may require changes to the tool.)

C.5.8.3.7 If IDs must be generated, it is highly desirable that the tool allow for batch uploads of large quantities of ID requests (such as for new hires).

C.5.8.3.8 It is highly desirable that the system automatically cancel access for any user after one year of non-usage.

C.5.9 Contract Reviews and Reports

C.5.9.1 Mandatory Requirements:

C.5.9.1.1 IRS will meet with contractors for quarterly contract reviews.

Mutually agreeable meeting dates will be arranged to accommodate the needs of both the contractor and the IRS.

C.5.9.1.2 Statistical reports described below shall be provided electronically to the IRS within seven business days after the start of the quarter.

C.5.9.2 Mandatory Reports:

C.5.9.2.1 Quarterly Statistical information shall be provided for each IRS Business Unit for each month of the quarter on:

Total Number of IDs issued;

Total Number IDs Used;

Total Number of Searches conducted; and Ten Most Popular Databases

C.5.9.2.1.1 “Searches” reported in the Quarterly Reports shall include all methods of access or data retrieval including, but not limited to, key word searching, table of contents searching, document retrieval, etc.

C.5.9.2.2 Biannual reports of unique ID's not used in a six-consecutive month period for each operating division and function.