Get ready today to file your 2017 federal income tax return. Changes for the tax filing season include ITINs, delays in refunds and validating your electronically filed return. As tax filing season approaches, the Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers there are …

A growing sector in public procurement, reverse auctions lower costs for government agencies through direct competition among auction vendors. Are agencies using GSA reverse auctions? Absolutely! Corps of Engineers Huntsville established a policy that all commodity buys must be evaluated …

Every small business owner needs to be aware of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) ostensible subcontractor rule. In a nutshell, ostensible contractor affiliation occurs when a small business holds a prime contract – but a subcontractor hired for the job actually …

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has issued a solicitation notice for a 10-year, $25 billion, professional services contract known as VECTOR, which will be set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. According to the Nov. 8 notice: A solicitation …

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is establishing a secure and easy-to-use web-based electronic bid protest filing and dissemination system (EPDS). EPDS will also provide automatic notice of a protest to the agency.  Once it is live, all protesters will be required …

Small business owners are temporarily unable to access new applications for the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program until Nov. 15, the SBA recently announced on one of its Web pages.  his is due to the SBA’s transfer of the …

Government contractors are subject to cybersecurity requirements, and some important deadlines are fast approaching.  An overview of cybersecurity requirements found in the FAR and the Department of Defense (DoD) FAR Supplement (DFARS) follows: FAR The FAR requires government contractors that handle …

As the final push for fiscal year 2017 contract obligations comes to an end, it’s helpful to take a step back and assess the contracting environmental trends that have emerged over the past year. Each trend lends itself to further …

The VA has officially withdrawn its November 2015 proposal to overhaul its SDVOSB and VOSB regulations. The VA’s action isn’t surprising, given that the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act requires the VA to work with the SBA to prepare a consolidated set of SDVOSB …

SBA Administrator Linda McMahon has appointed a task force to evaluate small business regulations and determine which should be repealed, replaced, or modified. Your feedback on SBA regulations will help the agency more effectively promote job creation and the economic …

The Defense Department announced it had raised the micro-purchase threshold to $5,000, up from $3,500, this month, and the new threshold is now in effect.  In addition, the micro-purchase threshold for DOD basic research and science and technology laboratory work …

A contractor’s performance of extra work outside the scope of the contract may go uncompensated if a contractor does not receive appropriate authorization in accordance with the contractual terms. A Court of Federal Claims decision reinforced that a contractor should …

Joint ventures can be extremely powerful in helping small businesses capture larger government contracts. Yet, few small businesses know how they work, and even fewer understand the critical timeline and milestones required to have everything in place in time to …

The Defense Dept. has asked Congress for several legislative changes in acquisition. One of DOD’s requests is to raise the micro-purchase threshold to $10,000, up from the current $5,000 for defense agencies and $3,500 in civilian agencies. The micro-purchase threshold …

In the government contracting industry, compliance related issues tend to take place. With administration and party changes, 2017 promises to offer additional complexities. Confusion amongst government contracting professionals includes: compliance with the Service Contract Labor Standards, DOD source selection procedures …

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced that it has launched a new Historically Underutilized Business Zones map (via Google Chrome) at www.sba.gov/hubzone-maps . The HUBZone map is the first step in the modernization effort of SBA’s federal contracting programs.  SBA has partnered …

Reps. Neal Dunn, R-FL, and Jimmy Paneta, D-CA, introduced legislation (HR 2781) that seeks to increase veteran-owned small business participation in strategic sourcing. If the veteran-owned are found to be underrepresented in strategic sourcing contracts, the Veterans Affairs Dept. and …

Small businesses upped their efforts to bid on federal contracts, reporting a 72 percent increase in time and money devoted to winning a share of the government’s $90 billion procurement budget, according to the latest annual survey from the American …