GAO reviewed: (1) the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) use of consultants to conduct a second price/technical tradeoff analysis for the Treasury Multi-user Acquisition Contract (TMAC) procurement; (2) the extent to which IRS identified and evaluated sources of expertise available within the government to do the analysis; (3) whether the analysis was conducted properly; and (4) the level of oversight and assistance that the General Services Administration (GSA) provided to IRS on major Tax Systems Modernization (TSM) procurements after issuing a delegation of procurement authority (DPA).

GAO found that: (1) IRS use of consultants to perform the price/technical tradeoff analysis was not inconsistent with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR); (2) IRS chose to use consultants to do the analysis because it believed the consultants could complete the analysis more quickly than in-house sources, thereby avoiding additional delay in awarding TMAC, and the credibility of the analysis would be enhanced if a new team and new methodology were used in its preparation; (3) IRS has taken steps to make greater use of in-house expertise on future procurements that may involve price/technical tradeoffs; (4) the price/technical tradeoff analysis employed a methodology that appeared reasonable; (5) in February 1990, GSA established a post-delegation review and tracking process that requires agencies to submit reports and provide briefings on the status and progress of their acquisition efforts; (6) IRS is furnishing GSA the information it requires; and (7) IRS has requested GSA assistance on two TSM procurements and on several other TSM projects.