Insertion of Words "All Taxes Excluded" Makes Bid Nonresponsive

Reconsideration was requested of a prior decision which stated that the protester's bid was nonresponsive. The protester contended that no taxes were applicable under its bid and that the purpose of inserting the words "All Taxes Excluded" in the bid was to warrant that no amounts had been included in the bid for taxes. The protester further argued that it was the government's burden, when the invitation for bids (IFB) was requested, to inform contractors of any applicable taxes. Since nearly all of the 50 states and numerous localities impose taxes and since contractors are generally more familiar with the application of those particular taxes than the contracting officer, the government requires the bidding contractor to include all applicable taxes in the bid price. However, the protester contended that the contracting officer should have requested information on the deletion of the tax prices. Since the addition of any applicable taxes would affect the total price, a request for deletion of the words "All Taxes Excluded" would have been improper. If any taxes were applicable at the time of the bid, a contractor might then claim payment for them from the government. To avoid this, the IFB required bidders to include all applicable taxes in the bid price. The prior decision was affirmed.