Small Business Issues: Contracting, Compliance and Tax Benefits

Congress has broad authority to impose requirements upon the federal procurement process, that is, the process whereby agencies obtain goods and services from the private sector. One way in which Congress has exercised this authority is by adopting measures to promote contracting and subcontracting between "small businesses" and federal agencies. Chapter 1 describes the various federal programs, requirements, procurement officers, and procurement offices involved in promoting federal contracting and subcontracting with small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs), SDBs participating the SBA's "8(a) Program," Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses, women-owned small businesses (WOSBs), and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs). Chapter 2 discusses the extent to which selected federal agencies demonstrated compliance with thirteen section 15(k) requirements for OSDBUs and SBPAC review process results. Chapter 3 examines what contracting officers consider when assigning NAICS codes to federal contracts and the status of efforts to clarify code assignment and industry views on NAICS code assignment and the number and outcomes of appeals. Chapter 4 reports on SBA's development of criteria and guidance on using a risk-based approach for certifying and recertifying HUBZone firms, and SBA's implementation of the revised policies and procedures for firms located in Puerto Rico. Chapter 5 examines the extent to which SBA and the participating agencies have implemented these benchmarks, including assessing businesses against them and establishing the consequence of not meeting them. The federal tax burden on small firms and its effects on their formation and growth have long been matters of legislative concern for Congress. This abiding interest has helped pave the way for the enactment of a series of tax laws in recent years that included targeted tax relief for a number of small businesses as discussed in chapter 6.