Voluntary Disclosure and Compliance Program (VDCP)

Businesses and Individuals who owe taxes to New York City may be eligible to participate in a Voluntary Disclosure and Compliance Program (VDCP).  If eligible, Finance will waive all penalties and may not require tax payments for some periods.

If you are contacted by Finance for taxes due, you will not be eligible to participate in the VDCP. You could face penalties, interest and possible imprisonment along with the tax due if you are discovered before coming forward.

The taxpayer or their representative may contact Finance before filing returns to pay past due taxes. Once accepted into the VDCP, the taxpayer will receive a written commitment that penalties will be waived. This will list the periods the taxpayer is required to file.

Taxpayers that owe taxes to both New York City (NYC) and New York State (NYS) may contact the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance to participate in the Unified Program. Under this program, one request is submitted to NYS and the taxpayer will receive one agreement that covers taxes owed to both NYS and NYC.

Voluntary Disclosure and Compliance Program Brochure
 Download Brochure (581k)

Statement of Audit Procedure
Voluntary Disclosure #PP-2009-1rev. 8/5/09
 Download Statement (45k)

 NYS Department of Taxation and Finance VDCP 
 

Eligibility
A business taxpayer or representative may contact Finance at any time to ask to participate in the VDCP. However, the taxpayer cannot have previous contact with Finance about the specific liabilities involved, be under audit by Finance, or be party to a criminal investigation in NYS.

Note: A taxpayer may participate in the program even if the tax delinquency is due to fraud or was otherwise intentional.

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Requirements

Please submit a written request, which may be anonymous, to:

NYC Department of Finance
TAPE Division - Voluntary Disclosure and Compliance Coordinator
345 Adams Street, Seventh Floor
Brooklyn, New York 11201

The request must include the following information:

• A description of the business in New York City and New York State;
• When these activities began;
• The number of employees involved in the business and their titles;
• When the taxpayer believes taxes were first due;
• The reason the taxes were not paid in the past;
• The estimated business taxes on a year-by-year basis;
• An affirmation that NYC has not contacted the taxpayer before about these specific tax liabilities;

Before submitting a formal written request, you may contact the Voluntary Disclosure and Compliance Coordinator by calling 718-403-3851. However, a telephone call will not be considered a request to join the VDCP.

The Review Process
The information submitted will be reviewed to verify a taxpayer’s eligibility for the VDCP and to determine the tax periods to be filed.

Written Voluntary Disclosure Agreement Letter
Once the required information is submitted and the taxpayer is found eligible for the VDCP, Finance will issue the Voluntary Disclosure and Compliance Agreement Letter which generally gives the taxpayer 30 days in which to file the requested returns.

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