U.S. Agency for International Development, Office of Procurement, M/OP/E, Room 1600I, SA-16, Washington, D.C. 20523-1415

X -- MISCELLANEOUS SERVICES. PROVIDE SUPPORT SERVICES FOR TAX POLICY AND TAX ADMINISTRATION IN RUSSIA SOL RFP 118-97-001 DUE 100197 POC Karen Beveridge, Contracting Officer, (703) 875-1429/Orioin Yeandel, Contracting Officer. The Procurement Office of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) solicits expressions of interest from Sources who would like to receive a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Tax Policy and Tax Administration Project in Russia. USAID/Russia is seeking a contractor to continue for a multi-year period a program of fiscal technical assistance and training. The partners or clients for this assistance will include the Ministry of Finance, the Parliament, the State Tax Service and its regional and local offices, the Tax Police, municipal and regional tax and budget authorities, and institutes and private organizations with related public-interest activities. Areas of the U.S. contractor s assistance will include: 1) further development of the tax code, or alternative federal tax legislation, and of the implementing regulations and instructions -- to improve the design and efficiency of the value- added, profits, excise, international trade, personal income, property, and payroll tax policies. This may include sector- specific policies for application of the VAT, profits, and excise taxes, 2) development and application of revenue-estimation models to help policy-makers assess the impact of alternative tax and expenditure rates and policies, 3) next stage of development, billing, and implementation of market-value based property tax programs for pilot cities (Tver and Novgorod), toward the objective of nationwide diffusion of a sound, local property tax, 4) federal and local policies and initiatives regarding revenue sharing and the assignment of revenues and budget responsibilities between different levels of government. This may include assistance to improve expenditure control and fiscal management, to help control waste and misallocation of resources at the federal or lower levels, 5) development of improved tax administration procedures and systems for registration of taxpayers, assessment, collection, handling of arrears, detection of nonfilers, audit, and appeals, possible reorganization that the Government of Russia may initiate regarding functional responsibilities, recruitment and training within the STS and other tax administration agencies, and 6) a substantial program of training for the STS, tax courts, and other agencies will likely be needed in the areas of accounting and audit (basic and advanced), management of case loads, appeals, etc. Training activities may include classroom seminars, computerized training, training of trainers, and development of manuals and instructions. The goals of these activities are to assist the Government of Russia in creation of a tax system which is more compatible with a market economy, is efficient, equitable, and simple to administer, and raises adequate and predictable tax revenues. The primary focus is on the developThe ment of a sound, well-functioning system, within a fairly stable and predictable set of laws and procedures. During 1995-96, the bulk of U.S. technical assistance for tax reform was in areas 1, 2, and 3 indicated above. During 1997, activities in areas 5 and 6 have expanded substantially and are likely to be the predominant parts of the overall U.S. assistance program during the term of the new, multi-year contract. One purpose of the forthcoming procurement is to consolidate and streamline the management of U.S. fiscal technical assistance programs that evolved during 1994-96. It is anticipated that the new contractor will staff up its technical assistance program gradually and will support and cooperate with an orderly phase-out of the activities of current providers, with the exception of two resident US Treasury advisors (one lawyer, one economist) who will continue into the future. The current providers implementing the US tax/fiscal assistance activities in Russia are: Harvard Institute for International Development, with subcontractors Duke University and Institute for Law Based Economy (Russian enterprise), the Barents Group, the Center for Financial Engineering and Development, with subcontractors the National Economic Research Associates and the Center for Real Estate Analysis (Russian enterprise), Georgia State University, Soros Business Management Foundation, and the U.S. Treasury tax advisory program. Exclusive of administrative and support personnel, the combined professional personnel staff deployed for these program activities during the first half of 1997 were approximately 14 resident expatriates in Russia, 25 Russian professionals (full time only), and 15 (full time equivalents) short-term/ intermittent foreign advisors. Under the new contract, it is expected that the U.S. fiscal assistance program will need to recruit and train an increased number of full-time professional Russian specialists employed during 1998-99 and to reduce the number of foreign experts. "The preferred method of distribution of USAID procurement information is via the Internet or by request of a solicitation on a 3.5" floppy disk (WordPerfect 5.1/5.2 format). This CBD notice can be viewed and downloaded using the Agency Web Site. The RFP, once issued, can be downloaded from the Agency web site. The Worldwide Web address is http://www.info.usaid.gov. Select Business and Procurement Opportunities from the home page, then "USAID Procurements." On the following screen, select "Download Available USAID Solicitations." The RFP can also be downloaded via Anonymous File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The FTP address is FTP.INFO.USAID.GOV. Logon using the user identification of "anonymous" and the password is your e-mail address. Look under the following directory for the RFP: pub/OP/RFP/11897001/11897001.rfp. Receipt of this RFP through INTERNET must be confirmed by written notification to the contact person noted above. It is the responsibility of the recipient of this solicitation document to ensure that it has been received from INTERNET in its entirety and USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes." Interested firms may request a copy of the RFP by submitting a written request, citing RFP No. 118-97-001, with one self-addressed mailing label to Karen Beveridge, USAID, Office of Procurement, M/OP/E, Room 1600I, SA-14, Washington, DC 20523- 1415. Interested parties may also submit a request for the RFP via the telefax (703) 875-1243, the RFPs mailed via this type of request will be sent through the U.S. Postal Service. Parties may also obtain a copy of the RFP after its issuance, in person, by presenting a written request with their organization mailing address to Room 1600I, 1100 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22209. To expedite receipt of the RFP, organizations should provide a self-addressed envelope already prepared for mailing with either their Federal Express or Express Mail account number. If an envelope already prepared for mailing is not provided by the requestor, the RFP will be mailed through the regular U.S. Postal Service. Telephonic requests will not be honored. Requests for the RFP that are received one week or less before the RFP closing date will be filled subject to the availability of copies. TheFTP address is FTP.INFO.USAID.GOV. Look under the following directory for the RFP: pub/OP/RFP/11897001/11897001.rfp. Receipt of this RFP through INTERNET must be confirmed by written (fax or mail) notification to the contact person noted above. It is the responsibility of the recipient of the RFP to ensure that it has been received from INTERNET in its entirety. USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes. (0210)

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