Voluntary Disclosures Program - Eligibility

1. Overview
2. Eligibility
3. How to apply to correct your taxes
4. After you apply

Are you eligible?

Before you contact the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to correct your taxes, make sure you are eligible for relief of penalties.

You may be eligible for the relief of penalties for correcting your taxes if you did not:

• fulfill your tax obligations
• report taxable income you received
• claim the right expenses on your tax return
• remit your employees’ payroll deductions
• report an amount of GST/HST, which may include undisclosed liabilities or improperly claimed refunds or rebates, unpaid tax or net tax from a previous reporting period
• file information returns
• report foreign income that is taxable in Canada

You are not eligible for relief of penalties for anything related to:

• bankruptcy returns
• income tax returns with no taxes owing or with refunds expected
• elections
• advance pricing arrangements
• rollover provisions
• post-assessment requests for penalty and interest relief

Before you apply for relief with the CRA, make sure your correction meets all of the following conditions:

• a penalty would apply
• it is voluntary, which means you make it before you are aware of the CRA taking any compliance action against you
• the information is at least one year overdue
• it includes all the relevant information

If you meet these conditions, the CRA will look over your correction and decide if they give relief of penalties.

Related links

• My Account
• My Business Account
• Represent a Client

Forms and publications

• Form RC199, Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP) Taxpayer Agreement
• Information Circular IC00-1R5 – Voluntary Disclosures Program

• 1. Overview
• 3. How to apply to correct your taxes

Date modified:

2017-01-13