Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP)

Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP)

We have helped many clients to resolve their tax problems through the VDP. They expressed the huge relief they felt after getting our help.  Get the relief you deserve too!


Ignoring your back taxes can be very costly when CRA eventually finds them. Late filing penalties can be severe, up to as high as 50% of your tax balance owing. Tax evasion is a criminal offense; individuals involved in tax evasion are prosecuted in criminal court and may serve jail time. The good news is that you may avoid criminal prosecution, penalties and partial interest when you volunteer the new information to CRA. 

CRA has been increasingly devoting more resources and taking aggressive measures to battle with the non-compliance and unpaid taxes. It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of voluntary disclosure when you have unfiled taxes or have errors or omissions on your back taxes. 


What is the Voluntary Disclosure Program?

Voluntary Disclosure Program, usually called VDP, or tax amnesty, grants relief to taxpayers who voluntarily come forward to correct errors or omissions on their tax obligations before CRA initiates an action towards them.  The key point to avoid penalties and criminal charges through a VDP application is that you have to volunteer the information before CRA starts an enforcement action, audit, review or investigation against you. You can do a voluntary disclosure for any taxation year that ends within the past ten years from the year submission filed.


Is Voluntary Disclosure Program for me?

Voluntary Disclosure Program can be a unique solution for your troubled taxes, for both individuals and corporations, if you said yes to any one of the situations below:

  • A tax return of a prior year was not filed. 
  • Income was concealed, not reported, or partially reported 
  • Ineligible expenses claimed 
  • Tax deductions or credits claimed contain errors 
  • Incomplete information 
  • Unreported or unremitted GST/HST 
  • Ineligible GST/HST input tax credits were claimed  
  • Unremitted employee source deductions (for example, CPP and EI deductions) 
  • Foreign source income that is taxable in Canada was not reported in a Canadian tax return 
  • Required Information returns, such as T1135 Foreign Income Verification Statement, were not filed.

Above list is not exhaustive and presents the most common situations for VDP cases. If you have any other situation that is not listed above, you still can qualify for voluntary disclosure. Please contact us to discuss the details of your tax situation.  


Conditions to become eligible for a Voluntary Disclosure

CRA requires the following to be eligible for voluntary disclosure:

  • The information or return subject to voluntary disclosure must be more than one year old. Current year information or returns are excluded from voluntary disclosure. 
  • The information should be complete. CRA will not accept a VDP application with partial information. You will have to file all your unfiled back taxes. 
  • The disclosure must involve a penalty, such as late filing penalty or gross negligence penalty.
  • You should volunteer the new information before the CRA takes action. Voluntary conditions cannot be met if CRA requires you to file your back taxes or initiates an investigation, review or audit on your back taxes.  


Act fast before the CRA finds you!


You would lose a once in a lifetime opportunity if CRA initiates a contact with you before you submit a voluntary disclosure. The CRA’s initiation could be as simple as a phone call or a letter in the mail. You should act fast in order not to lose a lifetime opportunity.


Voluntary Disclosure could give you peace of mind!

Living your life under constant worry and anxiety of CRA can be a serious threat to your physical and mental health. It can interfere with your ability to focus on your day-to-day responsibilities and thus may cause creation of another set of problems in your personal or professional life. Voluntary disclosure could be the opportunity to end your constant worries necessary to get your life back on track.  


Get professional help!

It is time to talk to someone. Get professional help to discover the complexity of your tax matters and learn your options.  We are here to help you. 


How can we help you?

VDP is a quite complex program with specific conditions. 

Many of the accounting firms will avoid involvement in VDP due to lack of expertise in dealings with the government agencies, or may simply not feel comfortable doing that.  

Whereas, the VDP is our expertise!  We fight to protect your rights. We will provide our expert advice and walk you through the required processes. We will communicate with the CRA on your behalf and represent you in the meetings with the CRA staff about VDP or other tax compliance matters. 

CRA agents are well-educated accountants; successful results in dealings with them can be achieved with the help of a well-qualified tax professional.  

We have all the right qualifications to achieve the best results possible for you.

Do not let VDP slip away!  Grab the opportunity before it is too late!


Call us today for a free, no-obligation, and confidential consultation. Saving yourself from the distressing thoughts of penalty and prosecution is just one phone call away.  

Take advantage of our free, no-obligation consultancy session and improve your financial life by learning the complexities of your tax matters and the solutions from a professional!