The CRA Voluntary Disclosure Program grants relief to taxpayers who voluntarily omitted or made an error on their tax returns. In the program, taxpayers can correct or make changes to their previous year returns.
What Types of Relief can the Voluntary Disclosure Program Provide?
- Prosecution relief
- Penalty relief
- Partial interest relief
However, these reliefs are provided on a case-to-case basis. Not every taxpayer will be able to obtain all these reliefs.
The CRA grants a higher level of relief to those who unintentionally made an error than those who purposefully avoided their tax obligations.
Should You Apply for the Voluntary Disclosure Program?
This program can receive a wide range of tax situations. The below list a few of the most common scenarios:
- A mistake was made on a previous year tax return
- A tax return was not filed previously and is now considered as late
- Foreign income that is taxable in Canada was not reported in a prior tax return
- Required information such as (Form T1135, Foreign Income Verification Statement) was not provided[1]
- GST/HST was not collected, remitted to the CRA or charged to consumers[2]
- Ineligible GST/HST input tax credits, refunds or rebates were claimed
If clients are unsure whether or not they made a mistake or omitted required information. A free consultation can be booked or contact SDG Chartered Professional Accountant at admin@sdgaccountant.com for any inquiries.