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FAR Clause

52.203-7

Anti-Kickback Procedures.
View on acquisition.gov · View on eCFR.gov
Effective Date
JUN 2020
Active Deviations
Versions
2 (since 2020-05-06)
RFO
RFO Version Available

The Revolutionary FAR Overhaul has published a revised version of this clause. The RFO version supersedes the eCFR text below for contracts using the RFO model; see the RFO deviation for applicability.

View RFO version
52.203-7 Anti-Kickback Procedures.

As prescribed in 3.502-3, insert the following clause:

Anti-Kickback Procedures (JUN 2020)

(a)
Definitions.

Kickback,
as used in this clause, means any money, fee, commission, credit, gift, gratuity, thing of value, or compensation of any kind which is provided to any prime Contractor, prime Contractor employee, subcontractor, or subcontractor employee for the purpose of improperly obtaining or rewarding favorable treatment in connection with a prime contract or in connection with a subcontract relating to a prime contract.

Person,
as used in this clause, means a corporation, partnership, business association of any kind, trust, joint-stock company, or individual.

Prime contract,
as used in this clause, means a contract or contractual action entered into by the United States for the purpose of obtaining supplies, materials, equipment, or services of any kind.

Prime Contractor,
as used in this clause, means a person who has entered into a prime contract with the United States.

Prime Contractor employee,
as used in this clause, means any officer, partner, employee, or agent of a prime Contractor.

Subcontract,
as used in this clause, means a contract or contractual action entered into by a prime Contractor or subcontractor for the purpose of obtaining supplies, materials, equipment, or services of any kind under a prime contract.

Subcontractor,
as used in this clause, (1) means any person, other than the prime Contractor, who offers to furnish or furnishes any supplies, materials, equipment, or services of any kind under a prime contract or a subcontract entered into in connection with such prime contract, and (2) includes any person who offers to furnish or furnishes general supplies to the prime Contractor or a higher tier subcontractor.

Subcontractor employee,
as used in this clause, means any officer, partner, employee, or agent of a subcontractor.

(b) 41 U.S.C. chapter 87, Kickbacks, prohibits any person from—

(1) Providing or attempting to provide or offering to provide any kickback;

(2) Soliciting, accepting, or attempting to accept any kickback; or

(3) Including, directly or indirectly, the amount of any kickback in the contract price charged by a prime Contractor to the United States or in the contract price charged by a subcontractor to a prime Contractor or higher tier subcontractor.

(c)(1) The Contractor shall have in place and follow reasonable procedures designed to prevent and detect possible violations described in paragraph (b) of this clause in its own operations and direct business relationships.

(2) When the Contractor has reasonable grounds to believe that a violation described in paragraph (b) of this clause may have occurred, the Contractor shall promptly report in writing the possible violation. Such reports shall be made to the inspector general of the contracting agency, the head of the contracting agency if the agency does not have an inspector general, or the Attorney General.

(3) The Contractor shall cooperate fully with any Federal agency investigating a possible violation described in paragraph (b) of this clause.

(4) The Contracting Officer may (i) offset the amount of the kickback against any monies owed by the United States under the prime contract and/or (ii) direct that the Prime Contractor withhold, from sums owed a subcontractor under the prime contract, the amount of any kickback. The Contracting Officer may order the monies withheld under subdivision (c)(4)(ii) of this clause be paid over to the Government unless the Government has already offset those monies under subdivision (c)(4)(i) of this clause. In either case, the Prime Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer when the monies are withheld.

(5) The Contractor agrees to incorporate the substance of this clause, including this paragraph (c)(5) but excepting paragraph (c)(1) of this clause, in all subcontracts under this contract that exceed the threshold specified in Federal Acquisition Regulation 3.502-2(i) on the date of subcontract award.

(End of clause)

[52 FR 6122, Feb. 27, 1987, as amended at 53 FR 34228, Sept. 2, 1988; 53 FR 36028, Sept. 16, 1988; 60 FR 34761, July 3, 1995; 75 FR 53134, Aug. 30, 2010; 79 FR 24214, Apr. 29, 2014; 85 FR 27091, May 6, 2020]
3.502-3
The contracting officer shall insert the clause at 52.203-7, Anti-Kickback Procedures, in solicitations and contracts exceeding $200,000, other than those for commercial products or commercial services (see part 12).
Prescription data sourced from eCFR as of 2026-06-10 03:16 UTC. Cross-references within the prescription are not resolved automatically.

Regulatory Stack

The layers of regulation that govern this clause, from the FAR prescription through agency-specific supplements and any active deviations.

RFO RFO Version Overhauled clause text
The Revolutionary FAR Overhaul publishes a revised version of this clause. See the RFO Version tab for the controlling authority under the RFO model.

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FAR FAR Prescription 3.502-3
The contracting officer shall insert the clause at 52.203-7, Anti-Kickback Procedures, in solicitations and contracts exceeding $200,000, other than those for commercial products or commercial services (see part 12).

View on acquisition.gov · View on eCFR.gov

Version History

Version history is sourced from the codified eCFR. Changes published only as class deviations or by the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul do not appear here until they are incorporated into the eCFR. For RFO-driven changes see the RFO Version tab and any active deviations cited above.

2 versions tracked from 2020-05-06 to 2020-06-05.
JUN 2020 June 5, 2020 CURRENT
Removed in this version
Added in this version
Unchanged
MAY 2020 (previous)
JUN 2020 (current)
24 added, 6 removed
(5)
(5) The Contractor agrees to incorporate the substance of this clause, including this subparagraph (c)(5) but excepting subparagraph (c)(1), in all subcontracts under under this contract which exceed $150,000.
(5)
(5) The Contractor agrees to incorporate the substance of this clause, including this paragraph (c)(5) but excepting paragraph (c)(1) of this clause, in all subcontracts under this contract that exceed the threshold specified in Federal Acquisition Regulation 3.502-2(i) on the date of subcontract award. (End of clause)
MAY 2020 May 6, 2020 SUBSTANTIVE
Earliest version available from the eCFR

RFO Version

Comparison of the codified eCFR text against the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul revision. Highlights show additions (green) and deletions (red, struck through).

Clause Text

Substantive changes. The RFO version differs materially from the eCFR text.
eCFR (codified)
RFO (implemented)
Unchanged
52.203-7 Anti-Kickback Procedures.
eCFR (codified)
RFO (implemented)
1 added, 33 removed
(c)(1)
(c)(1) The Contractor shall have in place and follow reasonable procedures designed to prevent and detect possible violations described in paragraph (b) of this clause in its own operations and direct business relationships.
(c)(1)
(c)
33 added
(1)
(1)
(1) The Contractor shall have in place and follow reasonable procedures designed to prevent and detect possible violations described in paragraph (b) of this clause in its own operations and direct business relationships.
3 added, 3 removed
(4)
(4) The Contracting Officer may (i) offset the amount of the kickback against any monies owed by the United States under the prime contract and/or (ii) direct that the Prime Contractor withhold, from sums owed a subcontractor under the prime contract, the amount of any kickback. The Contracting Officer may order the monies withheld under subdivision (c)(4)(ii) of this clause be paid over to the Government unless the Government has already offset those monies under subdivision (c)(4)(i) of this clause. In either case, the Prime Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer when the monies are withheld.
(4)
(4) The Contracting Officer may (i) offset the amount of the kickback against any monies owed by the United States under the prime contract and/or (ii) direct that the Prime Contractor withhold from sums owed a subcontractor under the prime contract the amount of the kickback. The Contracting Officer may order the monies withheld under subdivision (c)(4)(ii) of this clause be paid over to the Government unless the Government has already offset those monies under subdivision (c)(4)(i) of this clause. In either case, the Prime Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer when the monies are withheld.
45 removed
[52 FR 6122, Feb. 27, 1987, as amended at 53 FR 34228, Sept. 2, 1988; 53 FR 36028, Sept. 16, 1988; 60 FR 34761, July 3, 1995; 75 FR 53134, Aug. 30, 2010; 79 FR 24214, Apr. 29, 2014; 85 FR 27091, May 6, 2020]

Prescription

Minor revisions. The RFO prescription has formatting or editorial changes from the eCFR prescription.
eCFR (codified)
RFO (implemented)
Unchanged
52.203-7 Anti-Kickback Procedures.: Prescription
eCFR (codified)
RFO (implemented)
1 added, 1 removed
The contracting officer shall insert the clause at 52.203-7, Anti-Kickback Procedures, in solicitations and contracts exceeding $200,000, other than those for commercial products or commercial services (see part 12).
The contracting officer must insert the clause at 52.203-7, Anti-Kickback Procedures, in solicitations and contracts exceeding $200,000, other than those for commercial products or commercial services (see part 12).

Source: acquisition.gov RFO Part 52 · Prescribing Part 3

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