IRAS Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP): How Companies Correct Tax Errors (2026)

By Lucas Seah, Founder of Excellence Singapore Group | Last Updated: October 2026

Found a mistake in a tax return your company has already filed? The IRAS Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP) lets you correct it for a reduced penalty, or none at all. Disclose within one year of the filing deadline and meet IRAS’s conditions, and there is no penalty. After that first year, a corporate tax error costs 5% of the tax undercharged for each further year, or part of a year, until you disclose it. If IRAS finds the error first, the penalty can be up to 200%.

The conditions are strict. The disclosure must reach IRAS before IRAS queries or audits that matter, it must be complete and accurate, and you must cooperate fully and pay the tax.

For companies, 30 November 2026 matters twice. It is the last day to disclose an error in a Year of Assessment (YA) 2025 return without a penalty, and the last day to disclose a YA 2024 error at 5% before the rate rises to 10%.

Short on time? Jump to how much it costs, how to disclose or what to do this week.

Key Takeaways

• The IRAS Voluntary Disclosure Programme covers income tax (including cash payouts under the Income Tax Act), GST, withholding tax and stamp duty.
• A qualifying disclosure made within 1 year of the statutory filing deadline (30 November for corporate tax) carries no penalty. Stamp duty is the exception: it has no grace period.
• After that, corporate tax errors cost 5% of the tax undercharged for each year, or part of a year, after the grace period; GST and withholding tax errors a flat 5%. Without a qualifying disclosure, error penalties go up to 200% (up to 20% for withholding tax).
• The disclosure must reach IRAS before you receive a query, or notice of an audit or investigation, about that matter. Errors outside the scope of an ongoing audit can still qualify.
• Companies disclose corporate tax errors through myTax Portal’s Revise/Object to Assessment service, GST errors with a GST F7 and withholding tax errors with IRAS’s S45 VDP application.
• Deliberate evasion is treated differently: a voluntary disclosure may let IRAS compound it at a 200% penalty instead of prosecuting.

What is the IRAS Voluntary Disclosure Programme?

It is IRAS’s standing offer of lower penalties to taxpayers who come forward on their own to correct mistakes. According to IRAS’s e-Tax Guide on the programme, it covers income tax, GST, withholding tax and stamp duty, and income tax here includes cash payouts administered under the Income Tax Act, such as the Enterprise Innovation Scheme (EIS) cash payout. The current reduced penalties have applied since 1 January 2013.

Three points are often misunderstood:

• It is not an amnesty. You still pay all the tax that was undercharged. The programme only reduces or removes the penalty on top.
• There is no limit on how often. IRAS says every disclosure that meets the conditions may qualify, however many you make. After one, though, IRAS expects you to put controls in place so that the same error does not happen again.
• It is not only for large errors. Any mistake that left tax undercharged can be disclosed, from a missed sales invoice to a year of unreported withholding tax.

Who qualifies for the IRAS VDP?

IRAS applies four conditions. Miss any one and the disclosure is treated like any other error.

1. Timely and self-initiated. It must reach IRAS before you receive a query from IRAS about that tax matter, or a notice that an audit or investigation has started.
2. Accurate and complete. IRAS treats an application as complete only when all the information it asks for has been submitted, and it will not accept an incomplete one.
3. Full cooperation. You answer IRAS’s questions and help it correct the error.
4. Payment. You pay the additional tax and any penalty, or agree a payment arrangement with IRAS and keep to it until everything is paid.

Already heard from IRAS?

You can still qualify, but only for errors that are not directly related to the scope of IRAS’s query, audit or investigation. IRAS gives two examples that qualified. In one, a business filed a GST F7 for output tax errors while IRAS was auditing its input tax for the same period. In the other, a taxpayer under audit for its GST input tax claims disclosed that it had not reported tax withheld on royalties paid to a non-resident. Errors within the audit’s scope do not qualify for the reduced penalty. They are penalised like any other error IRAS finds, and IRAS treats being uncooperative during an audit as an aggravating factor and a commitment to better compliance as a mitigating one. Our guide to IRAS letters and audits explains what each type of letter means.

IRAS also runs campaigns, by letter or other channels, inviting taxpayers to review a specific issue. A disclosure made within the time frame stated in the campaign still qualifies, if the other conditions are met.

What makes a disclosure fail

IRAS’s examples of disclosures that did not qualify:

• The documents needed to work out the full amount were not provided by the deadline agreed with IRAS.
• The disclosure was directly related to an investigation IRAS had already opened into the taxpayer’s business partner.
• The taxpayer filed a GST F7 but did not answer IRAS’s follow-up questions, even after several reminders.
• The taxpayer did not keep to the agreed payment arrangement.

In three of the four, the taxpayer paid the tax and penalties in full, and still did not get the reduced penalty.

How much is the penalty with a voluntary disclosure?

None, if you disclose within one year of the statutory filing deadline and meet IRAS’s conditions (stamp duty is the exception). After that, it depends on the tax. The clock starts at the statutory filing deadline, not at any extension IRAS gave you: 30 November for corporate tax, one month after the end of each accounting period for GST, and the 15th of the second month after the payment for withholding tax. The grace period runs for one year from that date. For GST, IRAS’s GST F7 page counts that year from the end of the accounting period instead, so to be safe, disclose within 12 months of the period end, as our GST F7 guide advises.

The chart follows IRAS’s own method. In IRAS’s worked example, a company with S$1,000 of tax undercharged in its YA 2022 return pays nothing if it discloses by 30 November 2023, S$50 if it discloses in the first year after the grace period (1 December 2023 to 30 November 2024), and S$150 if it discloses in the third (1 December 2025 to 30 November 2026). Each year, or part of a year, after the grace period adds another 5%.

Sources: IRAS VDP e-Tax Guide (13th edition, 30 January 2026), section 9 and Annex H; Income Tax Act s96 and s96A; GST Act s62. Read October 2026.

If IRAS finds the error first

For an incorrect return made without intent to evade, IRAS can impose up to 200% of the tax undercharged. Where a case lands in that range depends on what IRAS calls individual circumstances. Signs of negligence count against you: repeating the same mistake, ignoring guidance from IRAS or your tax agent, or keeping poor records. So does your compliance history, if it shows two bad records, such as a late payment or a late return, within two years before the audit ends. IRAS also weighs how you cooperate during the audit and your commitment to better compliance.

How far back can IRAS go?

For income tax, IRAS can generally raise an additional assessment up to 4 years after the end of the YA (Income Tax Act s74); for GST, up to 5 years after the end of the accounting period. Neither limit applies where there is fraud or wilful default. Because a disclosure must be complete, it should cover every open year in which the same error was made, not just the latest one.

How does a company make a voluntary disclosure?

The channel depends on the tax and on what went wrong.

Sources: IRAS Voluntary Disclosure Programme page (updated 21 May 2026), VDP e-Tax Guide section 10, and wrongful collection of GST page. Read October 2026.

For corporate tax, the steps are:

1. Work out the full error. Go back through every affected YA and quantify the tax undercharged in each. An incomplete disclosure does not qualify.
2. Prepare the revised tax computation and supporting schedules for each year.
3. Gather the information IRAS requires. That means the company’s details, the tax type and years, what went wrong (with supporting documents) and how the error came to light. Add the controls you have put in place, or will, with dates; IRAS’s own example is buying accounting software, with the receipt as evidence. Finish with signed confirmations that the disclosure is complete and accurate, that it is not directly related to any ongoing query or audit, and that you will cooperate and pay.
4. Have the right person sign. For a company, that is the managing director or CEO, or an officer they authorise in a letter of authority submitted to IRAS.
5. Submit through Revise/Object to Assessment on myTax Portal, uploading the computation and documents. You get an instant acknowledgement.
6. Pay the additional tax within 1 month of the Notice of Assessment, and answer IRAS’s questions promptly. Our Notice of Assessment guide explains how to read it.

If you need more time to pull the documents together, tell IRAS how much and why. If IRAS agrees, the extra time should not be more than 3 months from the date of the application, and missing the agreed deadline makes the application invalid.

Which errors should companies check first?

IRAS publishes the areas its compliance programmes focus on. If your company’s returns touch any of them, check those first:

• Withholding tax on payments to non-residents, such as interest, royalties, technical service fees, management fees and director’s fees. IRAS encourages companies that have not complied to make a voluntary disclosure before an audit uncovers it, to benefit from reduced penalties. Our withholding tax guide explains when it applies.
• Enterprise Innovation Scheme claims. A business that claimed both the enhanced deduction and the cash payout on the same expenditure must tell IRAS promptly to avoid penalties. See our guides to EIS deductions and why IRAS rejects some claims.
• Private or non-deductible expenses claimed as business costs, such as family meals, holidays and groceries, and pay to directors and their family members that does not match the work they actually do.
• Income taxed at concessionary rates, where non-qualifying income, shared expenses or capital allowances have been allocated to the wrong category.
• Provisions made by construction companies for defects, damages, warranties or foreseeable losses, which are not deductible until the expense is actually incurred.
• Gains on property sales treated as capital when the pattern of buying and selling points to trading.
• Interest on loans used to buy assets that do not produce income.

Our list of common tax mistakes SMEs make covers the everyday ones.

Honest mistake or deliberate evasion?

IRAS treats the two very differently. An error becomes wilful evasion when two things are present: an act, such as leaving out income, overstating input tax or keeping false records, and knowledge that the act will reduce the tax. IRAS’s examples include declaring only cheque, NETS and card sales but not cash sales, keeping two sets of accounts, and claiming expenses on invoices for services that were never provided.

The penalties are of a different order. Under the Income Tax Act, tax evasion carries a penalty of three times the tax undercharged and a fine of up to S$10,000, up to 3 years’ jail, or both (s96). Serious fraudulent evasion, such as falsifying the books, carries four times the tax and a fine of up to S$50,000, up to 5 years’ jail, or both (s96A). GST evasion carries three times the tax and a fine of up to S$10,000, up to 7 years’ jail, or both (GST Act s62).

A voluntary disclosure still helps. IRAS says that taxpayers who come forward on their own about past evasion and meet the programme’s conditions may have their offences compounded at a reduced penalty of 200%, instead of being prosecuted. This applies to income tax, withholding tax and GST, and these disclosures go to a separate IRAS address, ifd@iras.gov.sg, rather than through the usual channels. If you are in this position, take advice before you write to IRAS: whether the disclosure is complete decides whether it qualifies.

Disclosure, objection or error claim: which do you need?

There are three different routes, for three different problems:

• You paid too little because of your own mistake: a voluntary disclosure.
• You paid too much because of your own mistake: a claim for error or mistake relief under section 93A of the Income Tax Act (subject to conditions), within 4 years after the end of the year in which the assessment was made. In IRAS’s example, the claim for an error in a YA 2021 return assessed in 2022 must be made by 31 December 2026.
• You disagree with IRAS’s assessment: an objection through Revise/Object to Assessment, within 2 months of the date of the Notice of Assessment. The tax must still be paid while IRAS reviews it.

For GST, a GST F7 is the usual form of GST voluntary disclosure, and it corrects errors in either direction. Small errors (a net S$3,000 or less, subject to conditions) may be corrected in your next GST return instead. Our GST F7 guide explains the tests. Late filing and late payment penalties are a separate matter again, covered in our IRAS penalty waiver guide.

Not the same programme: Singapore Customs runs its own Voluntary Disclosure Programme for errors in Customs permit declarations. It has its own rules: there is no fixed time limit, but the disclosure must be complete and made before Customs starts any check, audit or investigation, and some permit failures, such as not producing a required permit at a checkpoint, are excluded. Singapore Customs says it processes submissions within 3 working days. If the error is in a Customs permit, it goes to Singapore Customs; if it is in a tax return filed with IRAS, it belongs with IRAS.

What should you do this week?

1. Stop the error repeating. Fix the process or the accounting treatment so that the next return is right.
2. Check whether IRAS has already written to you about the same tax or period. If it has, the disclosure must fall outside that scope to qualify.
3. Work out the dates. Take the statutory filing deadline for each affected return and add one year. For corporate tax, a YA 2025 error disclosed by 30 November 2026 carries no penalty.
4. Quantify, prepare and submit, following the steps above, and keep the acknowledgement.
5. Plan the payment. Additional corporate tax is due within 1 month of the Notice of Assessment. If cash is tight, agree an arrangement with IRAS, and keep to it: missing it disqualifies the disclosure.

How we help with IRAS voluntary disclosures

Excellence Singapore Group’s tax team, which brings accreditation from the Singapore Chartered Tax Professionals (SCTP) in both income tax and GST, prepares voluntary disclosures and handles IRAS letters and audits, as well as corporate tax and GST filings. When you find an error:

1. Tell us what you have found, and whether IRAS has written to you, before you contact IRAS.
2. We check the scope and the dates: whether the disclosure can still qualify, which grace periods are still open and what each year will cost.
3. We quantify the error across every affected year and prepare the revised computations, and the accounts if they need correcting.
4. We prepare and file the disclosure through the right channel, for corporate tax, GST or withholding tax, and advise on disclosures of past evasion.
5. We handle IRAS’s questions and help you put in place the controls IRAS expects afterwards.

Fees are quoted after we review the error and the returns affected. If a grace period ends soon, such as on 30 November, say so when you contact us.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the IRAS VDP?

The IRAS Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP) offers reduced penalties to taxpayers who correct their own tax errors before IRAS queries or audits them. It covers income tax, GST, withholding tax and stamp duty. A qualifying disclosure carries no penalty if it is made within 1 year of the statutory filing deadline (stamp duty has no grace period), and a reduced one after that. It is not an amnesty: the tax itself must still be paid.

Is there a penalty if a company discloses an error?

Not if it discloses within the 1-year grace period after the statutory filing deadline, which is 30 November for corporate tax, and meets IRAS’s conditions. After that, a corporate tax error costs 5% of the tax undercharged for each year, or part of a year, after the grace period, while GST and withholding tax errors cost a flat 5%. Without a qualifying disclosure, IRAS can impose up to 200%, or up to 20% for withholding tax.

Can I still disclose after IRAS has contacted me?

Yes, but only for errors that are not directly related to the scope of IRAS’s query, audit or investigation. In one of IRAS’s own examples, a taxpayer under a GST input tax audit disclosed unreported tax withheld on royalties paid to a non-resident, and qualified. Errors within the audit’s scope do not get the reduced penalty, but IRAS treats being uncooperative during an audit as an aggravating factor and a commitment to better compliance as a mitigating one.

How does a company disclose a tax error to IRAS?

For corporate tax, use the Revise/Object to Assessment digital service on myTax Portal and upload the revised tax computation, supporting schedules and the information IRAS requires. For GST, request a GST F7 and file it within 14 days of the request. For withholding tax, file and pay first, then submit the S45 VDP application. Deliberate evasion is disclosed separately, to ifd@iras.gov.sg.

What if the error means the company overpaid tax?

That is not a voluntary disclosure. A company that overpaid because of its own error can claim relief under section 93A of the Income Tax Act, subject to conditions, within 4 years after the end of the year in which the assessment was made. In IRAS’s example, the claim for an error in a YA 2021 return assessed in 2022 must be made by 31 December 2026. For GST, a GST F7 corrects errors in either direction.

Does voluntary disclosure stop prosecution?

For deliberate evasion, it can. IRAS says taxpayers who come forward on their own and meet the programme’s conditions may have their offences compounded at a reduced penalty of 200% of the tax undercharged, instead of being prosecuted. This applies to income tax, withholding tax and GST. If the conditions are not met, IRAS may still charge the taxpayer in court.

Found an error in a past return? Act before the grace period ends

The cheapest disclosure is the one made inside the grace period. Talk to us about what you have found; we will tell you whether it can still qualify and what it will cost to put right.