The following points summarize the Offshore Compliance Advisory Committee report on the CRA voluntary disclosure program (VDP):
- Provide less generous relief in certain cases eg where the taxpayer’s default is wilful or deliberate.
- The conditions for participating in the VDP more than once should be specified more clearly and past participation verified.
- Participants should be required to pay tax and interest within the time specified in IC00-1R4.
- The CRA should clarify when it will accept incomplete information and should deny full benefits to a taxpayer who does not have a good reason for failing to provide full information.
- The VDP should not provide relief from obligations imposed by the transfer pricing rules.
- Taxpayers should be required to disclose the identity of advisers who facilitated non-compliance.
- The CRA should require higher-level sign-offs within the CRA for VDs involving large amounts or high-profile taxpayers.
- VDs should be reviewed by CRA specialists where warranted.
- A taxpayer should not be allowed to object to assessments issued in response to a VD.
- The CRA should audit returns for reporting income earned in respect of assets that should have been reported on a T1135 rather than force taxpayers to use the VDP for T1135s not filed.
Patrick Lindsay and Bill Nakano “VDP Report”, Canadian Tax Highlights 25:2 (February 2017)
