(a) General. Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs will be administered by sponsor organizations under cooperative agreements with the Internal Revenue Service. Use of cooperative agreements is in accordance with the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977, Pub. L. 95-224, February 3, 1978 (92 Stat. 3, 41 U.S.C. 501-509). Cooperative agreements will be legally binding agreements in document form.

(b) Nature and contents of cooperative agreements. Each cooperative agreement will provide for implementation of the program in specified geographic areas. Cooperative agreements will set forth:

(1) The functions and duties to be performed by the Internal Revenue Service and the functions and duties to be performed by the program sponsor,

(2) The maximum amount of the award available to the program sponsor,

(3) The services to be provided for each geographical area, and

(4) Other requirements specified in the application.

(c) Entry into cooperative agreements. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the Director, Taxpayer Service Division, or any other individual designated by the Commissioner may enter into a cooperative agreement for the Internal Revenue Service.

(d) Competitive award of cooperative agreements. Cooperative agreements will generally be entered into based upon competition among eligible applicants.

(1) To be eligible to enter into a cooperative agreement, an organization must be a private or public non-profit agency or organization with experience in coordinating volunteer programs. Federal, state, and local governmental agencies and organizations will not be eligible to become program sponsors.

(2) Eligible applicants will be selected to enter into cooperative agreements based on an evaluation by the Internal Revenue Service of material provided in their applications. The Service will set forth the evaluative criteria in the application instructions.

(3) Determinations as to the eligibility and selection of agencies and organizations to enter into cooperative agreements will be made solely by the Internal Revenue Service and will not be subject to appeal.

(e) Noncompetitive award of cooperative agreements. If appropriations to implement the Tax Counseling for the Elderly program are received at a time close to when tax return preparation assistance must be provided or when other factors exist which make the use of competition to select agencies and organizations to enter into cooperative agreements impracticable, cooperative agreements will be entered into without competition with eligible agencies and organizations selected by the Internal Revenue Service. Determination of when the use of competition is impracticable will be made solely by the Internal Revenue Service and will not be subject to appeal.

(f) Renegotiation, suspension, termination and modification.

(1) Cooperative agreements will be subject to renegotiation (including the maximum amount of the award available to a sponsor), suspension, or termination if performance reports required by the cooperative agreement and/or other evaluations by or audits by the Internal Revenue Service or others indicate that planned performance goals or other provisions of the cooperative agreement, the regulations, or Section 163 of the Revenue Act of 1978 are not being satisfactorily met. The necessity for renegotiation, suspension, or termination, will be determined solely by the Internal Revenue Service and will not be subject to appeal.

(2) Cooperative agreements may be modified in writing by mutual agreement between the Internal Revenue Service and the program sponsor at any time. Modifications will be based upon factors such as an inability to utilize all funds available under a cooperative agreement, the availability of additional funds and an ability to effectively utilize additional funds, and interference of some provisions with the efficient operation of the program.

(g) Negotiation. If the proposed program of an eligible applicant does not warrant award of an agreement, the Internal Revenue Service may negotiate with the applicant to bring the application up to a standard that will be adequate for award. If more than one inadequate application has been received for the geographic area involved, negotiation to bring all such applications up to a standard will be conducted with all such applicants unless time does not permit negotiations with all.