Idaho’s voluntary disclosure agreement (VDA) program helps out-of-state businesses involved in multistate commerce voluntarily resolve problems with tax debt and prior tax filings.
Benefits of participating
- Possible waiver of some or all penalties.
- Limit the tax due to an agreed-upon look-back period. The length of the look-back period generally is at least three years. This can vary depending on your business activities and tax owed.
- The look-back period for voluntary disclosure may be shorter than it would be if the Tax Commission discovered your noncompliance first.
Qualifying for the program
To qualify for a VDA, your business must:
- Owe more than $500 for the look-back period.
- Not have had any business locations in Idaho during the look-back period.
- Not be under current review by the Tax Commission or the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC).
Your business must agree to:
- Register for all applicable permits.
- File returns or schedules specified in the agreement.
- Pay the tax due plus any accrued interest for the look-back period.
Applying for the VDA
To review program requirements or enter your business into the VDA program, go to the Voluntary Disclosure Agreement Application. You don’t have to reveal the name of your company or any information that could readily identify it until we finalize an agreement with you.
Contact us at VoluntaryDisclosure@tax.idaho.gov if you have any questions.
Entering the VDA
We’ll review your application and contact you if it meets the program requirements.
If we accept your application, the next steps are as follows:
- We’ll prepare an official agreement for your final approval, and a tax bureau chief will sign it.
- We’ll send a copy of the agreement to the company representative listed on your application.
- Within 30 days, you must:
- Sign the agreement.
- Return the agreement to us with the required tax registration, tax returns, tax schedules, and payment of all tax due. (We’ll calculate and bill interest later.)
- After we receive all required materials, we’ll issue an assessment and notify you. Your company must pay the assessment within 30 days. (You must make any payments of $100,000 or more electronically.) We will charge an automatic penalty if we don’t receive your payment within 30 days. Interest also will continue to accrue.
Note: We can withdraw the offer at this stage. We’ll notify your company’s representative if that happens.
Important program information
Your VDA will specify the look-back period and becomes effective only when you or your representative signs it.
- We won’t assess tax, penalty, or interest for any period before the look-back period if you agree to and comply with the terms of the agreement.
- If any information in support of the agreement is misrepresented, the Tax Commission can consider the agreement void and assess additional tax, penalty, and interest.
- If your company has collected tax from customers or withheld tax from employees but hasn’t yet forwarded those taxes to the state, you must send them to us now.
Multi-state voluntary disclosure program
Consider applying for multistate voluntary disclosure through the MTC if your business owes taxes in more than one state. Find out more about the MTC’s Voluntary Disclosure Program.