What is Voluntary Disclosure or VDP?
The Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP) allows taxpayers to come forward and correct inaccurate or incomplete information or to disclose information they have not reported during previous dealings with the CRA, without penalty or prosecution. A disclosure may be made for Income Tax and Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) purposes, as well as for charges under the Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006, or the Air Travellers Security Charge Act. A valid disclosure must meet four conditions. These conditions require that the disclosure be voluntary, complete, involve the application or potential application of a penalty, and generally include information that is more than one year overdue. If the CRA accepts the disclosure, the taxpayer will have to pay the taxes or charges owing, plus interest. However, the taxpayer will not be subject to penalty or prosecution for those amounts accepted as a valid disclosure. If a taxpayer disagrees with a VDP decision, they
