GSA Posts Final Rule on Fees Contractors on GSA Schedules will be permitted to withhold a portion of the industrial funding fee to cover costs associated with a reduction in the fee. The fee will be reduced Jan. 1 to 0.75%, from the present 1%. In its final rule, GSA said contractors will continue to collect the 1% fee from customers through the end of the calendar year, but they may keep 0.25% of the money collected on sales between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. That amount is intended to compensate contractors for costs such as updating price lists and modifying accounting systems. GSA said it will modify schedule holders’ contracts electronically to reflect the reduced fee. The final rule gives the Federal Supply Service authority to change the fee in the future, but no more often than once a year. By law, the fee is supposed to cover the cost of operating the Schedules, but the General Accounting Office found last year that from 1999 to 2001, GSA racked up a 54% profit on the fees, totaling more than $151 million. The rule was published in the July 11 Federal Register.