RFI _ 24-IRA-021-OITA-Identity Theft Innovation and 24-IRA-022-OITA-Identity Theft Detection.docx

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

SOURCES SOUGHT– THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) IS RELEASED PURSUANT TO FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION (FAR) PART 10, MARKET RESEARCH.

This RFI is only issued for information and planning purposes. It shall not be construed as either a solicitation of the obligation on the part of the Government. All information received from this RFI will be used for Market Research purposes only. The Department of Treasury solicits vendor responses to this RFI for market research purposes only. This RFI will not result in a contract award.

The Government does not intend to award a contract based on responses to this RFI nor otherwise reimburse vendors for the preparation of any information submitted or Government use of such information. There is no guarantee of a solicitation resulting from this RFI.

Acknowledgment of receipt of responses will not be made, nor will respondents be notified regarding the outcome of the information received. All data received in response to this Sources Sought synopsis 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 consequential damages for 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.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a requirement for Identity Theft (IDT) Detection and Identity Theft (IDT) Innovation.

For information purposes, the services shall be described in accordance with the IRS Performance Work Statement (PWS) documents entitled, 24-IRA-021-OITA - Identity Theft (IDT) Innovation and 24-IRA-022-OITA - Identity Theft (IDT) Detection.

BACKGROUND:

The mission of Research, Applied Analytics and Statistics (RAAS), under the Office of the Chief Operating Officer, is to lead a data driven culture through innovative and strategic research, analytics, statistics, and technology services to support effective and efficient tax administration in partnership with internal and external stakeholders. We provide a wide range of expertise, products, and services to help offices throughout IRS achieve their mandates and operational needs by supplying; products; tools and services; and technical expertise in collaborative partnerships.

Identity (ID) thieves are becoming more adept at hacking data sources, placing legitimate taxpayers at greater risk. In 2022, government accounts and benefits, including the IRS, accounted for being the organization with the top number of compromised accounts by identity misuse (Identity Theft Resource Center). Data breaches can reveal confidential information that allows ID thieves to look like legitimate taxpayers making detection more difficult. The increase in promotion of first party fraud (FPF) schemes complicates the landscape in discerning identity theft (IDT) from FPF, and while the impact of both is harmful, they remain dissimilar in an important way: IDT results in loss of private taxpayer data (TP) as well as refund dollars with no chance of recovery and risks granting a thief access and legitimacy to commit further malicious acts, while first party fraud has no data loss and the refund dollars may have a path to recovery.

Attempted tax refund identity theft was almost $15B in 2022, which represents an increase of 50% more than the prior year amount, and it burdens taxpayers, creates challenges for revenue protection, diminishes confidence in the tax system, and impacts IRS operations. RAAS partners with other organizations in the IRS to combat IDT and serves as an effective champion of IDT efforts across the organization and helping business units collaborate to achieve their IDT goals. RAAS delivers an unwavering commitment to precision and quality in the IRS by:

1. Identifying and implementing proven frameworks to holistically guide IDT efforts and address risks.

2. Producing in-depth analysis of IDT and IRS efforts to combat IDT, the results of which directly impact decision-making.

3. Working to enhance defenses and putting forth innovative approaches and strategies to get ahead of ID thieves.

The IRS has had success combating IDT, as the known unprotected dollar amount is steadily dropping and is currently estimated at under $250M. Still, the IRS has seen schemes become more sophisticated and include more legitimate taxpayer information. This creates challenges in separating legitimate taxpayers from fraudulent filers increasing the likelihood of unknown undetected IDT.

RFI RESPONSE SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS:

Vendors that meet the requirements described in this announcement are invited to submit their capability statements/RFI response. Vendors shall reference “Response to RFI 24-IRA-021-OITA - IDT Innovation” and “Response to RFI 24-IRA-022-OITA - IDT Detection” in the subject line of their response, as well as in the subject line of any other e-mail correspondence referencing this notice.

Respondents shall fill and include the file 24-IRA-021-OITA – Identity Theft (IDT) Innovation Questions.xlsm and 24-IRA-022-OITA – Identity Theft (IDT) Detection Questions.xlsm as an attachment to their response.

Respondents are strongly urged to adhere to this page limitation as defined in the designated section below as well as to limit marketing material in order to provide more substantive information in their response. Vendors may provide links to relevant websites, as appropriate.

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. All capability statements shall be submitted via email to the point of contact listed below.

Parties shall respond to this RFI in accordance with the instructions provided in the table below:

not including the required business information and cover page.

Pages should be single-spaced, minimum 11-point Times New Roman font with a minimum of one-inch margins on all sides.

Primary Point of Contact Christopher Hoffner Christopher.H.Hoffner@irs.gov

Secondary Point of Contact Adrienne Spruill Adrienne.m.spruill@irs.gov

** THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT RESPOND TO PHONE CALLS. **