Certified Cost or Pricing Data (TINA) Threshold
$2 million
Also known as: Truth in Negotiations Act threshold, TINA threshold, truthful cost or pricing data
At a Glance
- Current amount
- $2 million
- Where it is set
- FAR 15.403-4, implementing the Truthful Cost or Pricing Data statute (41 U.S.C. § 3502)
- What it requires
- Submission and certification of cost or pricing data unless an exception applies
- Key exceptions
- Adequate price competition, commercial products/services, and prices set by law or regulation
- Inflation-adjusted?
- Yes — re-indexed periodically under FAR 1.109
What It Is
The certified cost or pricing data threshold — long known as the Truth in Negotiations Act (TINA) threshold, now the Truthful Cost or Pricing Data statute at 41 U.S.C. § 3502 — is the dollar line above which a contractor generally must submit, and certify as accurate, complete, and current, the cost or pricing data behind a negotiated price. Under FAR 15.403-4, when a negotiated contract action exceeds $2 million, the contracting officer must obtain certified cost or pricing data unless one of the statutory exceptions applies: the price is based on adequate price competition, the acquisition is for a commercial product or service, the price is set by law or regulation, or the contracting officer grants a waiver. The certification exposes the contractor to a defective-pricing remedy — if the certified data turn out to have been inaccurate, incomplete, or non-current, the government can recover the resulting price overstatement. The threshold matters because it marks where a negotiated award shifts from market-priced to cost-justified, changing what a contractor must open up to the government and to audit.
What Changes at This Dollar Level
- Above $2 million, a negotiated action generally requires the contractor to submit and certify cost or pricing data.
- The requirement is waived when an exception applies — adequate price competition, commercial products/services, or prices set by law/regulation.
- Certifying the data exposes the contractor to the defective-pricing remedy if the data were inaccurate, incomplete, or non-current.
- Below the threshold, the contracting officer may still request data other than certified cost or pricing data to establish a fair and reasonable price.
Key Features
| Feature | What It Means |
|---|---|
| The market-vs-cost line | Below the threshold and under its exceptions, price is justified by the market; above it without an exception, the contractor must justify price with certified cost data. |
| Big exceptions | Adequate price competition and commercial products/services are the two exceptions that keep most competitive and commercial buys out of the certified-data requirement even above $2 million. |
| Defective pricing risk | Certifying the data creates liability — if the data were not accurate, complete, and current, the government can recover the overstatement plus interest. |
| Opens the books | Meeting the requirement means providing the underlying cost data and being subject to audit, a meaningful step up in compliance for a small firm. |
What It Means for an SDVOSB
For most service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses the certified cost or pricing data threshold is a line to stay below the reach of, because two of its exceptions — adequate price competition and commercial products/services — cover the way SDVOSBs usually win work. A competitively awarded SDVOSB set-aside is typically supported by price competition, and a GSA Schedule or commercial offering rides the commercial exception, so even a multi-million-dollar award often does not trigger the certified-data requirement. Where it bites is a sole-source or single-offer negotiated award over $2 million with no exception: there the SDVOSB must open its cost data to the government, certify it, and accept defective-pricing exposure. If you are heading toward that kind of award, build the cost-accounting discipline early — clean, well-documented cost data and the systems to support them are what make a certified-data award survivable rather than a compliance trap.
Watch Out For
- Assuming every buy over $2 million needs certified data — adequate price competition and the commercial exception exempt most competitive and commercial awards.
- Under-appreciating defective-pricing exposure — a certification is a legal representation the government can enforce against you later.
- Confusing certified cost or pricing data with 'data other than certified cost or pricing data,' which the CO can request below the threshold to establish price reasonableness.
- Forgetting the threshold is inflation-indexed — the figure has risen over time (it was $750,000 before mid-2018).
Run the Numbers
Frequently Asked
What is the TINA threshold?
The TINA threshold — now the certified cost or pricing data threshold under the Truthful Cost or Pricing Data statute (41 U.S.C. § 3502) and FAR 15.403-4 — is the dollar line, currently $2 million, above which a contractor generally must submit and certify cost or pricing data to support a negotiated price. The requirement is waived when an exception applies, most importantly adequate price competition or the acquisition of a commercial product or service.
When does an SDVOSB have to submit certified cost or pricing data?
Generally only on a negotiated award over $2 million where none of the exceptions applies — most commonly a sole-source or single-offer contract for non-commercial work. Because a competitively awarded set-aside is usually supported by adequate price competition, and a commercial or GSA Schedule offering rides the commercial exception, many SDVOSB awards above $2 million never trigger the certified-data requirement.
What is defective pricing?
Defective pricing is what happens when a contractor certifies its cost or pricing data as accurate, complete, and current, but the data were not — and the price was overstated as a result. The government can then recover the amount of the overstatement, plus interest, under the contract's price-reduction remedy. This liability is the reason the certification above the TINA threshold is a significant compliance step, not a formality.
Primary Sources
- FAR 15.403-4 — Requiring certified cost or pricing data
- 41 U.S.C. § 3502 — Required cost or pricing data
- FAR 15.406-2 — Certificate of current cost or pricing data
Plain-English reference, not legal advice. Acquisition-related dollar thresholds are periodically re-indexed for inflation and the underlying FAR sections and statutes are amended from time to time — always confirm the current figure and its exceptions against the FAR and the actual solicitation before relying on it, and consult qualified counsel for your specific situation.
Change log (1)
- LaunchedPublished the federal procurement dollar thresholds reference covering the dollar lines that shape an SDVOSB set-aside — the micro-purchase threshold (FAR 2.101), the simplified acquisition threshold and the automatic small-business reserve (FAR 2.101 / 19.203), the commercial simplified-procedures ceiling (FAR 13.500), the SDVOSB sole-source ceiling (FAR 19.1406), the subcontracting-plan threshold (FAR 52.219-9), the certified cost or pricing data / TINA threshold (FAR 15.403-4), the Cost Accounting Standards threshold (48 CFR 9903.201-1), the Service Contract Labor Standards (41 U.S.C. § 6702) and Davis-Bacon (40 U.S.C. § 3142) labor thresholds, and the FFATA subaward reporting threshold (FAR 52.204-10) — each with an at-a-glance quick-facts card showing the current dollar amount, a what-changes-at-the-line list, a key-features table, an SDVOSB-specific angle, watch-outs, FAQPage, Article, Dataset, and BreadcrumbList structured data, primary-source citations, and cross-links into the glossary, regulation explainers, clauses, how-to guides, FAQ, and the size-standard, set-aside eligibility, subcontracting, and price-to-win calculators.