II_1 2032H8-24-R-00012 8-6-24.pdf

SOLICITATION/CONTRACT/ORDER FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS

OFFEROR TO COMPLETE BLOCKS 12, 17, 23, 24, & 30

1. REQUISITION NUMBER PAGE 1 OF 169

2. CONTRACT NO. 3. AWARD/EFFECTIVE

DATE

4. ORDER NUMBER 5. SOLICITATION NUMBER 6. SOLICITATION ISSUE

DATE

7. FOR SOLICITATION

INFORMATION CALL:

a. NAME b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (No collect calls)

8. OFFER DUE DATE/

LOCAL TIME

9. ISSUED BY

13b. RATING

14. METHOD OF SOLICITATION

CODE

15. DELIVER TO 16. ADMINISTERED BY CODE

18a. PAYMENT WILL BE MADE BY CODE17a. CONTRACTOR/

OFFEROR

CODE

FACILITY

CODE

CODE

TELEPHONE NO.

17b. CHECK IF REMITTANCE IS DIFFERENT AND PUT SUCH ADDRESS IN

OFFER

18b. SUBMIT INVOICES TO ADDRESS SHOWN IN BLOCK 18a UNLESS BLOCK

BELOW IS CHECKED

RFQ IFB RFP

SEE ADDENDUM

19.

ITEM NO.

20.

SCHEDULE OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES

21.

QUANTITY

22.

UNIT

23.

UNIT PRICE

24.

AMOUNT

(Use Reverse and/or Attach Additional Sheets as Necessary)

25. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA 26. TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT (For Govt. Use Only)

28. CONTRACTOR IS REQUIRED TO SIGN THIS DOCUMENT AND RETURN

COPIES TO ISSUING OFFICE. CONTRACTOR AGREES TO FURNISH AND

DELIVER ALL ITEMS SET FORTH OR OTHERWISE IDENTIFIED ABOVE AND ON ANY

ADDITIONAL SHEETS SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SPECIFIED

29. AWARD OF CONTRACT: REF. OFFER

DATED . . YOUR OFFER ON SOLICITATION

(BLOCK 5), INCLUDING ANY ADDITIONS OR CHANGES WHICH ARE

SET FORTH HEREIN, IS ACCEPTED AS TO ITEMS:

30a. SIGNATURE OF OFFEROR/CONTRACTOR

30b. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print) 30c. DATE SIGNED

31a. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (SIGNATURE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER)

31b. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print) 31c. DATE SIGNED

AUTHORIZED FOR LOCAL REPRODUCTION

PREVIOUS EDITION IS NOT USABLE

STANDARD FORM 1449 (REV. 2/2012)

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.212

10. THIS ACQUISITION IS UNRESTRICTED OR

NAICS:

SIZE STANDARD:

13a. THIS CONTRACT IS A

RATED ORDER UNDER

DPAS (15 CFR 700)

SET ASIDE: % FOR:

11. DELIVERY FOR FOB DESTINA-

TION UNLESS BLOCK IS

MARKED

SEE SCHEDULE

12. DISCOUNT TERMS

ARE ARE NOT ATTACHED

ARE ARE NOT ATTACHED

27a. SOLICITATION INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE FAR 52.212-1, 52.212-4. FAR 52.212-3 AND 52.212-5 ARE ATTACHED. ADDENDA

27b. CONTRACT/PURCHASE ORDER INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE FAR 52.212-4. FAR 52.212-5 IS ATTACHED. ADDENDA

8 (A)

EDWOSB

WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS

(WOSB) ELIGIBLE UNDER THE WOMEN-OWNED

SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM

SERVICE-DISABLED

VETERAN-OWNED

SMALL BUSINESS

HUBZONE SMALL

BUSINESS

SMALL BUSINESS

5000187261

TBD 2032H8-24-R-00012

Zachary Slater

611710

$24.0M

See Attached Delivery Schedule

See Attached Schedule(s)

See Attached Schedule(s)

Office of Procurement Operations-Support Contracts Branch 2970 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19104 Attn: Zachary Slater Tel: Email: zachary.q.slater@irs.gov

Invoices must be submitted via the Invoice Processing Platform at www.ipp.gov

Office of Procurement Operations-Support Contracts Branch 2970 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19104 Attn: Zachary Slater

08/06/2024

09/03/2024, 10:00 AM EST

X

X

STANDARD FORM 1449 (REV. 2/2012) BACK

19.

ITEM NO.

20.

SCHEDULE OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES

21.

QUANTITY

22.

UNIT

23.

UNIT PRICE

24.

AMOUNT

32a. QUANTITY IN COLUMN 21 HAS BEEN

RECEIVED INSPECTED ACCEPTED, AND CONFORMS TO THE CONTRACT, EXCEPT AS NOTED:

41a. I CERTIFY THIS ACCOUNT IS CORRECT AND PROPER FOR PAYMENT

32b. SIGNATURE OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT

REPRESENTATIVE

32c. DATE

41b. SIGNATURE AND TITLE OF CERTIFYING OFFICER 41c. DATE

42a. RECEIVED BY (Print)

42b. RECEIVED AT (Location)

42c. DATE REC'D (YY/MM/DD) 42d. TOTAL CONTAINERS

40. PAID BY

32d. PRINTED NAME AND TITLE OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT

REPRESENTATIVE

32e. MAILING ADDRESS OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE 32f. TELPHONE NUMBER OF AUTHORZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE

32g. E-MAIL OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE

33. SHIP NUMBER 34. VOUCHER NUMBER 35. AMOUNT VERIFIED

CORRECT FOR

PARTIAL FINAL

37. CHECK NUMBER

38. S/R ACCOUNT NO. 39. S/R VOUCHER NUMBER

36. PAYMENT

COMPLETE PARTIAL FINAL

Section B - Schedule

This period of performance for this contract will include a six-month Base Period with four (4), twelve-month Option Periods.

The firm-fixed fees proposed to be collected directly from EA candidates shall be presented by the Contractor as follows:

CLIN Description Period Period of Performance Fee Charged Not

Inclusive of Government User Fee

0001 Base Start-Up Base 9/1/2024-2/28/2025 N/A

0002 Start-Up Continued Option 1 3/1/2025-2/28/2026 N/A

0003 Enrolled Agent Testing Option 2 3/1/2026-2/28/2027 $ 0004 Enrolled Agent Testing Option 3 3/1/2027-2/29/2028 $ 0005 Enrolled Agent Testing Option 4 3/1/2028-2/28/2029 $

In addition to the firm-fixed price test fees set forth above, which the Contractor shall retain as complete and only compensation for their efforts under this Contract, the Contractor shall concurrently collect from the test candidates a Government user fee for subsequent remittance to the Government. The amount of the Government user fee to be collected by the Contractor is currently $99.00 per test part. The Government user fee may change one or more times during the term of the Contract. See PWS Section 5.01 Remittance of Government User Fee for more information.

End of Section B

Section C

Performance Work Statement (PWS) Enrolled Agent Specialist Enrollment Examination (EA-SEE)

Section 1 Background

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury and one of the world's most efficient tax administrators. The mission of the IRS Return Preparer Office (RPO) is to improve taxpayer compliance by providing comprehensive oversight and support of tax professionals. The RPO oversees registration, testing, and suitability of Enrolled Agents (EA) and EA candidates. EAs, like attorneys and certified public accountants (CPAs), have unlimited practice rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS. This means they are unrestricted as to which taxpayers they can represent, what types of tax matters they can address, and which IRS offices they can represent taxpayers before. Learn more about EAs at: Enrolled Agents | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov). Practitioners must have the qualifications necessary to provide valuable services to taxpayers in presenting their cases to the IRS.

Attorneys and CPAs are deemed to have such qualifications by meeting the requirements of their respective state bar and licensing board associations. EAs must demonstrate their competence directly to the IRS. Individuals qualify to become an EA through past service and technical experience as an employee of the IRS or by successfully passing the three-part IRS Enrolled Agent-Special Enrollment Examination (EA-SEE). There are currently over 61,000 EAs.

Approximately 21,000 to 24,000 examination parts are administered annually.

In 2006 the IRS launched a comprehensive revision of the EA-SEE Program by contracting out test development and administration services. The contracted services included the development of an examination that effectively measured the competence of applicants desiring to become EAs, the effective administration and delivery of the examination, and annual updates to the examination in response to changes in tax law.

The three EA-SEE examination parts are designed to test different taxation topics. The examination parts can be taken in any order. Candidates are limited to four attempts at each examination part per testing window. The testing window is from May 1 through February 28/29 of the following year. The examination is not available during the annual blackout period of March 1 to April 30 as it is during this time that the examination is updated with the most recent tax law.

Section 2 Scope

RPO has a need to procure contractor support for the continued development and administration of the EA-SEE. The contractor awarded the next contract must ensure that the examination format they develop is consistent with the established examination format described in Section 4.01, Test Development.

The Contractor shall be responsible for test development and administration, including hosting and maintaining a system to capture candidate data and collect payment from the candidate, delivering testing in both computer-based and paper-based formats, providing customer service to candidates, and recording and transferring test results to the Government and/or its designee. An easy, quick, and secure means to schedule examinations must be provided. The Contractor shall provide controlled, professional, and accessible facilities for test administration.

Refer to Section 4.02, Registration and Scheduling, and Section 4.03.2, Test Accommodations for additional information on extenuating circumstances that require alternative registration and paper-based testing format.

The Contractor’s systems shall electronically interface with Government systems and/or with the systems of a designee of the Government to receive and transmit data in formats specified by the Government. Data exchanges include, but are not limited to, matching identifying numbers to test candidates, data obtained during the registration or test administration process, and test results.

Section 3 General Requirements

3.01 Paragraph Headings

The paragraph headings of the contract document are for convenience and reference only and in no way define or limit the intent or the rights of the Government.

3.02 Constructive Notice

Contractors are expected to know laws, regulations, and Agency policies applicable to the scope of their contract with the Government, and therefore are deemed to have been given constructive notice of the said laws, regulations, and policies regardless of whether the said laws, regulations and policies are specifically cited in this Performance Work Statement (PWS).

3.03 Standard Clauses

See contract for clauses. It is the Contractor’s responsibility to not only read and understand the requirements in the PWS but also read and understand the provisions of the Standard Clauses and be prepared to fully comply with them upon contract award.

3.04 No-Cost Basis

All requirements herein shall be performed at no cost to the Government. The Contractor shall recover costs incurred in performing the requirements of the contract, plus a reasonable profit, exclusively through fees collected directly from Enrolled Agent (EA) candidates. The Contractor shall be responsible for resolving insufficient fund issues directly with EA candidates, and consistent with generally accepted business practices.

3.05 Pricing Table

Pricing should include domestic test delivery using both in-person testing and remote proctored testing and international testing using only remote proctored testing. Offeror shall propose one firm-fixed price per examination part regardless of delivery method or location.

See Section B – Schedule

3.06 Ownership

No portion of this contract is intended to be, nor should it be construed to be, a voluntary services agreement. The Contractor shall not perform the services herein voluntarily but will be compensated for these services through fees collected directly from EA candidates. Therefore, on behalf of its stakeholders (EA candidates), the Government shall own all records, documents, information, and data generated, created, collected, or otherwise acquired by the Contractor pursuant to the requirements herein. The Contractor shall transfer the records, documents, information, and data to the Government or its designee in formats specified by the Government, as and when directed by the Government.

3.07 Retention of Records

Unless a longer period is mandated by applicable laws, regulations and policies or specified elsewhere in the Contract; all records, documents, information, and data generated, created, collected, or otherwise acquired by the Contractor for the purposes of meeting the requirements of this contract shall be securely retained for a period of 36 months after the expiration of the final period of performance of this contract regardless of the type, form, or format.

During this period, the Contractor shall make available at its offices at all reasonable times the said records, documents, information and data for examination, audit, or reproduction by the Government. The Contractor shall securely purge all records, documents, information, and data upon expiration of records retention period, or earlier as directed by the Government.

3.08 Historical Information

Historical information is provided for illustrative purposes only and without any express or implied representation that historical information is an indication of future participation or volume in the Program. The Contractor shall be solely responsible for performing due diligence through market research and other means, to project future participation and volume in the Program prior to submission of their price proposal. The risk of relying exclusively on historical information provided by the Government for any purpose or application is assumed in its entirety by the Contractor.

The following examination and call center volume information is provided for illustrative purposes. The examination is offered as part of a voluntary enrollment program and examination volume varies from year to year.

1. Number of EA-SEE examination parts administered during the five (5) most-recently completed testing windows:

Period Examination Parts Administered 5/1/23-1/31/24 5/1/22-2/28/23 5/1/21-2/28/22 5/1/20-2/28/21

22,437 23,773 20,734 15,338*

5/1/19-2/29/20 20,226

*Covid impact

During the five (5) testing windows listed above, there were only two requests for a paper-based examination; however, paper versions of each examination part must be made available as set forth in the contract.

2. Number of international EA-SEE examination parts administered at international test centers during the five (5) most-recently completed testing windows (this volume is included in the total volume in paragraph 1 above):

Country 5/1/23 1/31/24

5/1/22 2/28/23

5/1/21 2/28/22

5/1/20 2/28/21*

5/1/19- 2/29/20

Total by Country

India 3,582 2,611 1,746 0 2,250 10,189 Korea 273 350 263 0 366 1,252 Great Britain 275 405 206 0 237 1,123 Canada 145 185 37 0 113 480 Japan 198 158 0 0 140 496 Total by Testing Window 4,473 3,709 2,252 0 3,106 13,540

*Covid Impact

3. Domestic customer service call center volume (calls offered) for the five (5) most-recently completed testing windows:

Month 2023-2024 2022-2023 2021-2022 2020-2021 2019-2020 March 244 281 296 176 160 April 277 320 299 866 245 May 739 693 506 803 679 June 745 651 681 452 502 July 576 610 731 340 395 August 844 858 946 396 432 September 702 842 867 470 291 October 688 776 819 815 546 November 651 811 885 720 595 December 624 677 886 771 894 January 1,016 719 834 1,056 1,046 February n/a 675 698 679 1,075 Total 7,106 7,913 8,448 7,544 6,860

3.09 Deliverables

The Contractor shall complete and deliver products, services, tasks, and other deliverables pursuant to the provisions of the contract and in accordance with the Deliverables Schedule. The Deliverables Schedule is not all inclusive. Additional items stipulated in the Standard Clauses and elsewhere in the contract document shall be delivered as specified therein. If no Deliverables Schedule is specified for a requirement, the Contractor shall deliver that requirement within 90 days of the award.

3.10 Review and Approval

Unless expressly exempted, all aspects of the Contractor’s performance, including means, methods, products, and services, are subject to the Government’s review and approval. The Government’s review and approval, however, shall not relieve the Contractor from their contractual obligations. The Contractor is responsible for the quality of products and services they provide. Defects in the Contractor’s products and services shall be corrected immediately by the Contractor and at the Contractor’s expense.

3.11 Project Management

Within one-hundred twenty (120) calendar days from contract award, the Contractor shall submit a comprehensive project plan, in Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) format, outlining specific actions, responsible parties, and due dates to ensure timely and effective delivery of contract requirements. Once approved, the Contractor shall continuously update and maintain the project plan to reflect most current performance schedule and progress. See Exhibits and References, Reports for additional information.

Thereafter, an annual WBS shall be delivered by the Contractor no later than July 1, as outlined in Section 4.10, Deliverables.

The Contractor shall also provide and present to the Government no more than sixty (60) calendar days from date of contract award, an effective, efficient, and achievable plan to receive, collect, process, store, retrieve, report, electronically transfer, and eventually dispose of data in electronic format. The proposed plan shall comply with all applicable Government policies and standards.

3.12 Meetings

The Contractor shall have toll-free conference lines or other virtual means available to host meetings with the Government. The Contractor shall meet with the Government as listed in this Section. The Contractor shall a) solicit the Government for agenda items, b) develop and distribute to meeting attendees the meeting agenda in Microsoft Word format, and c) provide written minutes for each meeting in Microsoft Word format. Unless otherwise specified, meeting agendas are due no less than 24 hours prior to the meeting and minutes of the meetings are due no later than three (3) business days after the meeting adjourns. The minutes shall capture the meeting date and time, attendees, agenda, key discussion points and decisions.

The minutes shall be distributed to attendees for review and comment prior to being finalized and formally documented. See Exhibits and References, Reports, for additional information. The Contractor shall also develop and maintain an action item listing in the minutes, which will be a living document that includes action items, responsible parties, target completion dates, actual completion dates, and status updates. The updated action item listing shall be distributed to meeting attendees with the written minutes. Both virtual meetings and in-person meetings may be held as needed.

1) Kick-off Meeting: The Contractor’s key personnel shall attend a contract kick-off meeting either virtually or in-person with the Government in the Washington, D.C. area or another location as determined by the Government within three (3) weeks of contract award.

The Contractor shall provide and present to the Government during the kick-off meeting a preliminary project plan in electronic format.

2) Project Status Meetings: The Contractor shall meet with the Government once weekly to discuss project milestones, current open issues, scheduled downtimes, operations, program management, risks, and other topics as appropriate. Frequency of meetings may change to bi-weekly as directed by the Government.

3) Change Control Board (CCB) Meetings: A Change Control Board shall be established post award. The CCB members shall include representatives from both the Government (voting members) and the Contractor (non-voting members). Updates, releases, enhancements, and developments involving Information Technology and external communications relevant to the services and solutions being provided and as agreed for this contract shall be subject to review by the CCB prior to implementation. The CCB shall meet monthly or at the Government’s discretion.

4) Monthly Security Meetings: The Contractor shall participate in regular monthly security meetings to discuss security-related topics including, compliance with the Continuous Monitoring (CA-7) requirement of IRS Publication 4812. The Contractor’s Security subject matter experts and other relevant personnel shall attend these meetings. Monthly configuration and vulnerability scan reports shall be submitted for review five (5) business days in advance of each such meeting. In addition, any outstanding Plan of Action and Milestone (POA&M) item and any other document pertinent to the discussion shall be submitted for review five

(5) business days in advance of each monthly meeting. Minutes of the meeting shall be prepared by the Contractor and distributed for review no later than five (5) business days after the meeting.

5) Annual Lessons Learned Meetings: The Contractor shall meet with the Government annually to provide a comprehensive evaluation of key program successes and improvement opportunities. The Contractor shall track action items identified by the comprehensive evaluation and provide monthly status updates until all action items are implemented.

They shall also deliver a post-implementation evaluation that summarizes implementation activities, key objectives met, barriers encountered, and next steps.

6) Annual Program Review Meetings: The Contractor’s key personnel shall meet annually with the Government for a comprehensive discussion of the Program. The meeting shall be either in person at the Contractor’s facilities or virtual as directed by the Government. Allocate up to three

(3) full consecutive days for this purpose.

7) Annual Contractor Security Assessment (CSA): The Contractor shall meet annually with the Government in-person for a comprehensive security assessment. Each such meeting typically lasts three (3) consecutive days, Tuesday through Thursday, at Contractor’s facility or facilities selected by the Government. The scope of the comprehensive security assessment includes Information Technology as well as Personnel and Physical Security. The Contractor’s security subject matter experts and other relevant personnel shall be in attendance throughout the duration of the assessment.

8) Ad-Hoc Meetings: The Contractor shall meet with the Government to address short turnaround issues or other relevant matters as directed.

3.13 Response to Inquiries

The Contractor shall respond to Government’s verbal and written requests and inquiries within two (2) business days. When a complete and final response to Government’s request or inquiry is not practical within two

(2) business days, the Contractor shall propose for Government’s consideration a reasonable alternate date by which a complete and final response shall be forthcoming. This date commitment shall be submitted to the Government in writing, via email, within two (2) business days of the original request or inquiry.

3.14 Quality Assurance Program (QAP)

Within thirty (30) days of contract award the Contractor shall submit a preliminary QAP that addresses activities that will begin at the onset of the contract. Within one-hundred twenty (120) calendar days from contract award the Contractor shall submit a comprehensive QAP for each contract requirement. Each QAP shall consist of plans, means, methods, procedures, and organization necessary to provide assurance that supplies, equipment, services, and operations comply with contract requirements. Once approved, the Contractor shall continuously update and maintain the QAP to reflect changes and progress. See Section 4.06.1, Quality Assurance Program, for additional information.

The Contractor’s QAP is not a substitute for Government’s inherent right to inspection as set forth in the applicable Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Inspection Clause. The Government will monitor, inspect, and evaluate the Contractor’s performance.

3.15 Site Visits, Audit, and Inspection

The Government may conduct site visits at any Contractor location relevant to the scope of this contract to verify (audit) compliance with contract requirements. The Contractor shall accommodate the Government during such visits by providing access to all facilities and systems relevant to the conduct of such audit and inspection.

3.16 Marketing and Advertising

a) See clause DT1052.210-70 Contractor Publicity (APR 2015)

3.17 Contractor Personnel

The term “Contractor Employee/s” is defined as employees of the Contractor and the employees of the Contractor’s subcontractors, partners, and consultants assigned to perform work on this contract.

1. Contractor’s employees shall possess the educational background and the technical experience needed to successfully carry out the scope of the proposed work as outlined in the contract.

2. The Government has the absolute right to ask for and verify the qualifications of any employee of the Contractor before they are assigned to perform work on this contract.

3. The Government has the absolute right to approve or disapprove any employee of the Contractor proposed to be assigned to perform work on this contract. An initial approval shall not preclude a subsequent disapproval. Contractor’s employees shall be removed from work on this contract immediately upon disapproval.

4. After contract award, changes in employment status for key personnel shall be reported to the Government by the Contractor no later than five (5) calendar days following the change in employment status.

5. The Contractor shall include in their proposal biographies of key employees. Each biography shall be limited to two (2) pages and shall include pertinent education and work experience. “Key employees” is defined as anyone responsible for or providing oversight in the following areas: Executive Leadership, Project Management, Contract Management, Test Development, Information Technology, Customer Service Call Center, Test Administration, Quality Assurance, Accounting, IT Security, Personnel Security and Physical Security.

6. Contractor’s employees shall be subject to the Government’s citizenship and background investigative requirements regardless of location of their employment (domestic or international). No exceptions. See IRM 10.23.2, IR1052.204-9000, and elsewhere in the contract document for additional information.

7. All communications initiated by Contractor employees regarding their background investigation, non-disclosure agreement (NDA), security awareness training and other personnel matters shall be through a single point of contact (POC). The POC shall be an employee of the Contractor, not an employee of Contractor’s subcontractors or partners.

8. Communications initiated by the Government regarding Contractor employees background investigations may be addressed directly to the Contractor employee due to the confidential nature of the investigation.

Contractor employees do not have to disclose to the Contractor the content of the confidential communications they receive from the Government, but they shall notify the Contractor’s POC of the receipt of such communication to allow the Contractor’s POC to follow-up and track timely progress of the investigation. The Contractor shall be responsible for following-up and tracking timely progress of their employees’ background investigations.

9. Timely response to Government directives and requests for information is essential. The Government will make a second attempt before permanently disqualifying the Contractor employee from being assigned to this contract due to lack of performance. Exemptions will be granted for verifiable medical emergencies, natural disasters, and other circumstances reasonably beyond the Contractor employee’s control.

3.18 Full-Time Dedicated Project Manager

The Contractor shall assign a full-time dedicated Project Manager to oversee the Contractor’s performance of, and compliance with, each/every requirement of this contract. This individual shall be experienced in project management. A demonstrated working knowledge of Federal Acquisition Regulations (48 CFR) is highly desirable.

3.19 Systems Documentation Review and Approval

The provisions of the Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) 2.16.1 for Enterprise Life Cycle (ELC) apply to this contract.

The ELC is the approach used by IRS to manage and implement business change and information systems initiatives.

The Contractor shall provide systems documentation for review and approval. Required ELC documents include but are not limited to:

a) Design Specifications Reports

b) Business Systems Reports

c) Interface Control Documents

d) Systems Architecture Diagrams

e) Systems Security Plans

f) Systems Deployment Plans

g) Systems Test Plans

h) Test Completion Reports

i) Contingency Management Plans

j) Incident Management Procedures

k) Operations Handbooks

l) Privacy Impact Assessments

m) Interconnection Security Agreements

n) Memorandums of Understanding

o) Service Level Agreements

p) Non-Disclosure Agreements

q) Cyber Cloud Intake Form

r) FIPS 199 Categorization Worksheet

s) Information System Contingency Plan

t) Security Assessment Plan

u) Service Level Agreement with CSP

v) Security Risk Assessment

w) Vulnerability Assessment Report

x) Security Engineering Identification Worksheet

y) Project charter

z) Configuration Management Plan (CMP)

aa) Enterprise Organizational Readiness (EOR) Workbook

bb) Lessons Learned Report (LLR)

cc) Engineering Plan

dd) Risk Management Plan

The Contractor shall submit the documentation in electronic format for the proposed systems to the Government for review and approval no later than sixty (60) calendar days from contract award.

Prior to officially launching the systems and applications for public use, and periodically thereafter, the Government will conduct security assessments that may include interviews, site visits, tests, scans, and code reviews. Upon successful completion of the review, the Government will issue formal approval to proceed. After initial launch, the Contractor shall update and resubmit documents anytime material changes are made to systems or applications.

3.20 Information Systems and Security Regulations

See Exhibits and References, FISMA Contract Language.

3.21 System Interface/Interconnectivity, Privacy Impact Assessment, Digital Identity Risk Assessment

To satisfy certain requirements herein, the Contractor’s systems may have to electronically interface with certain other Government or Government-contracted systems to exchange data. The Contractor shall execute the federally mandated Non-Disclosure Agreement, Interconnection Security Agreement (ISA) and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Additionally, to establish the required interface, the Contractor shall provide substantial documentation to support their assertion that all systems operate as required by the provisions of the contract and meet all applicable Government security, privacy, and accessibility requirements. Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) are required. Section 208, E-Government Act of 2002, requires agencies to conduct PIAs before developing or procuring information technology systems or other products that collect, maintain, or disseminate information in identifiable form from or about members of the public; or before initiating electronic collection of information in identifiable form for ten or more persons. Any public facing components of the system must complete a Digital Identity Risk Assessment (DIRA) with IRS Cybersecurity to assess compliance with NIST 800-63-3.

3.22 Event and Incident Reporting

The Contractor shall notify the Government whenever a problem is identified with the Contractor’s systems, equipment, or operations that are relevant to the requirements of this contract. The written notification shall include the following information:

a) Date, time, and duration of the event or incident

b) Source and detailed description of the event or incident

c) Method of detection

d) Systems impacted by the event or incident

e) Why the event or incident is of concern

f) Corrective actions taken or planned and their implementation timeline

g) Degree to which stakeholders were impacted

h) Whether any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) was compromised; and

i) Copies of any communications with stakeholders regarding the event/incident

The primary purpose of this provision is to inform the Government of events/incidents that may impact its stakeholders. The purpose of this provision is not to make the Government responsible for investigating or determining the causes of the event/incident or to make the Government responsible for providing advice and guidance on corrective actions. These responsibilities rest solely with the Contractor. This provision is complementary to, and not in lieu of, event/incident reporting requirements described elsewhere in the contract document by reference.

3.23 Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan

Contractor shall maintain a comprehensive business continuity and disaster recovery plan and make the plan available to the Government for review and approval upon request.

The Contractor shall submit as part of their proposal:

1. A description of their business continuity and disaster recovery plan including existing or proposed contracts with third parties for:

a) Remote back-up data centers

b) Alternate workspace for Contractor staff

c) Alternate call centers

2. A high-level description of the plan for:

a) Call center operations

b) Support staff operations

3. A description of the plan’s review and testing process and the frequency of such review and testing.

Describe any experience with implementing the plan in response to actual past emergencies.

4. A description of the plan’s recovery and reconstitution process for restoring the system to a known state following a disruption, compromise, or failure.

5. Recovery time objective and recovery point objective for every system the Contractor proposes to deploy to meet the requirements of this Contract.

3.24 System Performance

System performance measurements shall be as follows:

a) System Availability > 99%

b) Number of concurrent users > 500

c) Systems shall be load tested to ensure they perform to these specifications

d) System shall have monitors to notify the Government of system downtime or errors

3.25 System Performance Review

All aspects of the Contractor’s Information Technology shall be subject to regular performance reviews by the Government. Areas of review include system responsiveness, security, data integrity, and other performance characteristics related to compliance with requirements of the contract. The Government will establish review requirements and schedules post award.

3.26 Scheduled Maintenance

Contractor shall inform the Government, via email, at least two (2) business days in advance of scheduled maintenance that is expected to result in a significant decrease in the performance of the Contractor’s systems, equipment, or operations deployed in support of this contract. A significant decrease in performance includes any decrease in performance that results in the Contractor being unable to meet the requirements specified in the contract.

3.27 Periodic System Enhancements and Releases

The Contractor shall implement periodic systems updates and releases to maintain compliance and stay current with the applicable technology, security, and customer service standards of this Contract. Documentation, including user manuals and training materials, shall be updated accordingly, and submitted for review within 30 days of enhancements and releases.

3.28 Access to Contractor’s Systems and Data

The Contractor shall provide the Government remote access to all data, systems and functionalities required in this contract. Claims of data and systems proprietorship shall not preclude access. To comply with these requirements, the Contractor must physically or logically partition their systems to segregate their other clients’ data at no cost to the Government.

The Contractor shall provide training and training materials to the Government to effectively access and utilize data, systems and functionalities required in this contract. The Contractor shall also provide a training environment that is consistent with the capabilities of the production environment.

3.29 Suspension of Access to Online Applications

The Login page of Web-based applications, as well as any other Web page directly accessible to EA candidates, shall display “This page is currently not available, please try again later” within one hour of being directed to do so by the Government. The message, “This page is currently not available, please try again later” is included herein for illustrative purposes. The exact text of the message to be displayed will be included in the Government’s directive.

3.30 International Laws and Regulations

The Contractor certifies that they are intimately familiar with the applicable laws, regulations, ordinances, policies, etc. of foreign countries where the Contractor is required to perform work pursuant to this contract. Therefore, the Contractor shall inform the Government in their technical proposal if any such laws, regulations, ordinances, policies, etc. will result in obligations for the Government.

Section 4 Functional Requirements

4.01 Test Development

4.01.1 Initial Test Development

The Contractor shall:

1. Conduct an initial job analysis to ascertain the necessary knowledge and capabilities for EAs. The job analysis shall serve as a key component of test development. The job analysis is generally conducted during the base year of the contract but can be conducted at any time as agreed to or directed by the Government.

Historically developed test questions with performance data and program test specifications may be provided to the Contractor as needed to aid in initial test development.

2. Utilize tax industry Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and IRS Technical Experts in the test development process to ensure an accurate rendering of tasks and performance objectives related to the job analysis. Tax industry SMEs must be CPAs, attorneys, or enrolled agents subject to review and approval by the IRS.

3. Present to the IRS, upon completion of the job analysis, a detailed report, and an executive summary of the job analysis. See Exhibits and References, Reports, for specific reporting requirements.

4. Develop test plans and test specifications based on the job analysis and present to the IRS for approval.

5. Incorporate the following examination requirements:

a) Develop an examination that measures competence in tax matters and ethics that is always consistent with The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing or other legally defensible test development standard.

b) Develop the examination in the English language.

c) Make the examination available to candidates in a computer-based format. A paper-based format may be required as a reasonable accommodation.

d) Develop test questions and test forms to ensure the integrity of the examination and to prevent test question saturation.

e) Write and develop test questions using industry SMEs and IRS Technical Experts with at least 95% of the questions being written by industry SMEs.

f) Reference each test question to include an annotation to the applicable IRS source reference, including but not limited to: The Internal Revenue Code (IRC), IRS Revenue Procedures, IRS Revenue Rulings, IRS regulations, IRS publications, IRS forms, and IRS form instructions. Each question is required to have a legal reference (IRC; Rev. Proc.; Rev. Rul.; IRS regulation, etc.).

Publication with page number(s) references are acceptable but are in addition to the requirement to have a legal IRS sourced reference. The references shall not be viewable on the test questions provided to candidates.

g) The test question format shall be multiple choice with a single best answer and three distractors.

h) The examination shall consist of three (3) parts that test candidates’ knowledge of topics in these categories:

i. EA-SEE Part 1 - Individual Taxation

ii. EA-SEE Part 2 - Business Taxation

iii. EA-SEE Part 3 - Representation, Practices, and Procedures

i) Each test question shall be approved by the IRS and properly coded for the applicable examination part.

j) Each examination part shall contain 100 test questions, of which 85 shall be scored and 15 shall be experimental and will not count towards candidates’ grades.

k) Each examination part administered shall be timed at three and one-half (3 ½) hours. Computer-based examination sessions shall include approximately thirty (30) additional minutes for the NDA, tutorial, and customer satisfaction survey.

6. Provide the IRS written confirmation, within thirty (30) calendar days of completion of the initial examination development process, that the examination is legally defensible. See Exhibits and References, Reports, for specific reporting requirements.

7. Develop, in consultation with the IRS, a style guide which shall be referenced during item writing and item review, to ensure proper tax-related terminology and consistent use of format, grammar, and punctuation are used.

8. Provide the Government secure electronic access to the Contractor’s databases and systems used in the EA- SEE test development process and the training necessary to effectively utilize the databases and systems.

The Government shall have read and review access to the Contractor’s test development systems for statistical analysis and verification of test question accuracy. Access shall be granted in sufficient time for the Government to fully participate in the initial test development process. Additionally, the Contractor is to provide secure transmission of test questions, in Microsoft Word format, for review and approval by IRS

Technical Experts.

9. Provide the IRS the final examination parts, forms, versions, and questions, electronically in Microsoft Word format, by May 1, 2026.

10. The Contractor shall provide as part of their proposal:

a) A description of the Contractor’s test development systems, applications, and databases that the Contractor proposes to grant access to IRS Technical Experts. Because the Government’s security standards, regulations, and policies prohibit downloading software to government-issued computers, the Government’s access to and use of Contractor’s systems, applications, and databases shall be web-based and not require downloading software.

b) The number of test questions and examination forms per exam part to be developed initially for administration during the first testing window of the contract (May 1, 2026, through February 28, 2027). Specify the approximate number of new test questions to be developed annually to ensure the development of a legally defensible test, always consistent with The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing or other legally defensible test development standard.

c) A description of the proposed computer-based examination delivery method; specifically, if examinations will be administered on fixed examination forms or using random generation of questions from a bank.

4.01.2 Cut Score Determination

The Contractor shall:

1. Develop a plan to conduct beta testing and collect sufficient data to determine test validity and establish the cut (passing) score.

2. Ensure the cut score determination process shall be subject to participation, review, and approval by industry SMEs and the Government.

3. Develop a written cut score recommendation to present for Government approval, including all statistical data and data analyses to support the recommendation. A scoring table shall be developed to convert raw scores to scaled scores. See Exhibits and References, Reports, for specific reporting requirements.

4. Conduct additional cut score reviews, as directed by the Government, to ensure the continued validity of the initial cut score. Upon each additional cut score review, the Contractor shall present to the Government a written recommendation for approval, including all statistical data and data analyses to support the recommendation.

4.01.3 Annual Test Updates

The Contractor shall:

1. Provide the IRS with a comprehensive project plan in Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) format outlining specific actions, responsible parties, beginning and ending dates, and actual completion dates to ensure timely, effective delivery of the updated test. A WBS shall be developed and presented to the IRS annually by July 1, prior to the beginning of the test update process. The Contractor and the IRS shall regularly review, discuss, and update the WBS tasks. See Section 3.11, Project Management, and Exhibits and References, Reports, for additional information.

2. Update all examination versions and/or test questions annually to reflect changes in tax law or scoring, to prevent test question saturation, to improve performance of test questions based on the Contractor’s item analyses, or as determined by the IRS. Annual updates shall be based on the IRC, IRS regulations, forms, and publications, as amended through December 31 of the prior year.

a) Individual Test Question Update: This annual systemic update shall not supplant the Governments’ right to order update of any individual test question at any time during the year if there is a need.

The Government does not anticipate the need to update individual questions more frequently than once annually; however, the Contractor shall be required to do so as deemed necessary by the Government.

b) Exam Update Due to Extensive Legislation: In the event Congress passes extensive legislation that results in major changes to taxation topics already included in the exam or the introduction of major new taxation topics to the exam, the Contractor shall be required to conduct additional test update activities including, but not limited to: reviewing and updating test specifications; item writing;

item review; beta testing; and standard setting; based on the extent of the changes and impact to the examination.

The IRS shall be provided a minimum of 90 calendar days to review and comment on the proposed updates to test questions before final implementation, as outlined in Section 4.01.6,Test Development Review and Approval.

3. Conduct an annual gap analysis to identify weak content areas that require additional test questions.

Present to the IRS a written summary of the analysis and any recommendation on weak or satisfactory content areas. Submit all statistical data used for the analysis and used to support the recommendation.

See Exhibits and References, Reports, for reporting requirements.

4. Conduct an annual item analysis on the performance of existing test questions in preparation for the annual test update process. Present to the IRS a written summary of the analysis and any recommendation to withdraw, revise, and/or retain any test question. Submit all statistical data for each test question used for the analysis and the recommendation. See Exhibits and References, Reports, for reporting requirements.

5. Ensure the participation, review, and approval of industry SMEs and IRS Technical Experts in the annual test update process including the test question performance review, the review of existing test questions, and development and review of new test questions.

6. Provide the IRS annual written confirmation, within thirty (30) calendar days of the completion of the annual test update process, that the examination is legally defensible. See Exhibits and References, Reports, for reporting requirements.

7. Make the updated examinations available to candidates on May 1 annually.

8. Update, by March 1 and/or on an ongoing basis as determined by the IRS, internal and public-facing information including, but not limited to, the Contractor’s Website, score reports, communications templates, customer service and test center procedures, and any other documentation that may be impacted by the annual test update.

9. Provide as part of their proposal, a description of the process of republishing the exam in the event a test question must be updated during the testing cycle, including the amount of time it takes to republish the exam.

4.01.4 Industry Subject Matter Experts

1. The Contractor shall only sub-contract with Government approved industry SMEs comprised of EAs, CPAs, and/or attorneys in the development and annual updating of the examination as required in the contract. All SMEs are subject to the Government’s citizenship and background investigative requirements. Refer to Section 3.17(6), Contractor Personnel for more information.

2. The Contractor shall solicit for SME interest and participation annually and shall retain SMEs for all applicable test development or test update activities. The Contractor shall sub-contract with only Government approved industry SMEs and retain them for the duration of the test development and test update activities. In the event the pool of SMEs must be replenished during the initial test development and/or test update process, a second solicitation may be offered.

3. Prior to sub-contracting with SMEs, the Contractor shall provide the Government, securely and electronically, the SME’s full name and Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) for review and approval. The Government requires that all industry SMEs participating in the Program be a credentialed CPA, attorney, or EA with an active license; have a valid and active PTIN; and be in good standing with the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) and their state licensing boards. In addition, the Government requires the SME to pass an employee background investigation as referenced in 3.17(6) Contractor Personnel. The SME must also sign a test development NDA in addition to a separate NDA for the background investigation. The Government requires a minimum of thirty (30) calendar days to review SME information and will respond to the Contractor with a list of approved SMEs from which to choose. The Contractor shall factor this approval period into the annual WBS. This 30-day review period is separate from and in addition to the review time needed for a Contractor employee background investigation clearance.

4. The Contractor shall assemble SMEs that are diverse in years of experience and geographic location.

SME participation may be conducted remotely or in-person, at the Contractor’s discretion.

5. All costs for sub-contracting and retaining SMEs pursuant to the requirements of the contract shall be the responsibility of the Contractor.

6. The Contractor shall require SMEs to sign an NDA annually, at the time the SME is retained and prior to beginning work on the examination. The Contractor shall provide the IRS a copy of each signed NDA. See Exhibits and References, Industry Subject Matter Experts Non- Disclosure Agreements, for a sample NDA.