Proposed Changes To The Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP)

Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP) – Current Rules

The Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP or Canadian Tax Amnesty) is a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) program that allows Canadian taxpayers to come forward to correct any inaccurate or incomplete information or disclose information that was not previous reported. Currently, the acceptance of a voluntary disclosure is predicated on the satisfaction of four requirements: 1) a penalty owing; 2) no ongoing enforcement action; 3) the year in question must be at least one year old; and 4) the disclosure must be complete. If a disclosure is accepted under the VDP, the taxpayer will avoid criminal tax evasion prosecution and gain benefits from the waiver of civil tax penalties and partial interest relief. The CRA has released its proposed changes to the VDP that are expected to come into effect later this year, subject to modifications based on public comments.Under the guise of improving fairness and accountability, the