[Protest of USDA Rejection of Bid for Construction]

A firm protested the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) rejection of its bid for construction, contending that the: (1) indication in its bid that it did not include sales taxes referred only to state sales taxes; and (2) solicitation was ambiguous as to the applicability of taxes. GAO held that: (1) USDA properly rejected the protester's bid as nonresponsive, since it failed to include the required taxes; and (2) the protester untimely filed after bid opening its protest against alleged solicitation improprieties. Accordingly, the protest was denied.