Canadians – Voluntary Disclosures

The Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP) is a fairness initiative that gives taxpayers the opportunity to come forward and to correct inaccurate or incomplete information, or to disclose previously-unreported information, without penalty or prosecution that would otherwise be imposed.

Information Circular IC00-1R, Voluntary Disclosures Program , provides you with further information in respect to the VDP. Paragraph 11 of that information circular refers to the policy concerning voluntary disclosures submitted on a no-name (hypothetical) basis. This no-name disclosure policy provides taxpayers and their representatives an opportunity to gain insight into the implications of making a disclosure before any identification information is exchanged with CRA.

No-Name Voluntary Disclosure Policy

The no-name disclosure policy provides that should a taxpayer decide to proceed with a no-name (hypothetical) disclosure the identity of the taxpayer must be provided to the CRA within 90 calendar days from the “effective date of disclosure”. The “effective date of disclosure” for a no-name disclosure is either the date of receipt by a CRA tax services office of a written voluntary disclosure submission or the receipt of a completed form VDP-1 - Taxpayer Agreement Form, as used for the VDP.

During this 90-day period the taxpayer is protected from the application of penalty and from prosecution. The no-name voluntary disclosure file will be closed, without further contact from the CRA, if at the end of this 90-day period the identity of the taxpayer remains unknown. No extension to this 90-day period will be allowed to identify the taxpayer.

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