IRAS Voluntary Disclosure Programme: How Companies Fix Tax and GST Errors for Lower Penalties

An IRAS voluntary disclosure is how a company corrects an error in a filed corporate tax or GST return before IRAS queries or audits it. Under the Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP), a qualifying disclosure within one year of the statutory filing deadline attracts no penalty. After that, corporate tax disclosures cost 5% of the tax undercharged for each year past the grace period, and GST disclosures a flat 5%.

This guide is for directors who have found a problem in a filed Form C-S, Form C or GST return and want to fix it at the lowest cost. Amounts are in Singapore dollars (SGD).

Key takeaways

• No penalty for a qualifying disclosure within 1 year of the statutory filing deadline: 30 November for corporate tax, one month after the period end for GST.
• After that: 5% of the tax undercharged for each year for corporate tax and a flat 5% for GST, against up to 200% if IRAS finds the error first.
• Closing soon: the penalty-free window ends on 30 November 2026 (the YA 2026 filing deadline) for YA 2025 corporate tax, and on 31 January 2027 for October to December 2025 GST returns.
• Disclose before IRAS queries or audits the matter, and give complete, accurate information.
• Corporate tax errors go through Revise/ Object to Assessment on myTax Portal; GST errors through a GST F7.

Table of Contents

1. What Is the IRAS Voluntary Disclosure Programme?
2. Which Disclosures Qualify for Reduced Penalties?
3. Is There a Penalty for Voluntary Disclosure?
4. Worked Example Comparing the Penalties
5. Should You Make a Voluntary Disclosure?
6. How to Make a Voluntary Disclosure to IRAS
7. Errors That Commonly Need Disclosure
8. VDP vs Being Audited by IRAS
9. How Far Back Should You Check?
10. When to Get Professional Help
11. Frequently Asked Questions
12. Official Sources

What Is the IRAS Voluntary Disclosure Programme?

The VDP is IRAS's offer of reduced penalties to taxpayers who come forward in good time to correct errors. It covers income tax (including corporate tax), GST, withholding tax and stamp duty, and its rules are in IRAS's e-Tax Guide on the programme (13th edition, 30 January 2026).

The VDP is mainly used to amend a company's tax return or GST return that has already been filed. It also covers late GST registration: IRAS is generally prepared not to penalise a business that discloses its lateness when it registers, although GST on past sales is still payable. Other problems have their own routes: returns never filed (see catching up on overdue company filings), an estimated Notice of Assessment issued because you did not file, and late filing or late payment penalties already imposed (see how to request an IRAS penalty waiver).

Which Disclosures Qualify for Reduced Penalties?

A disclosure qualifies only if it is timely, accurate, complete and self-initiated, and the company then cooperates fully with IRAS and pays, or arranges to pay, the extra tax and any penalty.

• Timely and self-initiated: made before IRAS sends a query on your tax matters or notifies you of an audit or investigation. Once one is under way, only errors not directly related to its scope can qualify.
• Complete: IRAS has every item in Annex B of the e-Tax Guide. Any extra time you need for documents should not exceed 3 months from the application date, and missing the agreed deadline invalidates the application.

Is There a Penalty for Voluntary Disclosure?

Not if a qualifying disclosure is made within the grace period: one year from the statutory filing deadline. After that, it depends on the tax.

The clock runs from the statutory deadline, so a Form C-S filed through accounting software with a 15 December due date still has a grace period starting on 30 November.

VDP penalty rates for corporate tax by YA

IRAS counts in 12-month windows after the grace period ends: in its own example, a YA 2022 error disclosed between 1 December 2025 and 30 November 2026 costs 15% of the tax undercharged. As at November 2026:

GST grace periods by quarter

Each GST return has its own grace period. For calendar-quarter filers, as at 9 November 2026, errors in the October to December 2025 return are penalty-free until 31 January 2027, and January to March 2026 until 30 April 2027; the window for July to September 2025 closed on 31 October 2026. Earlier quarters attract the flat 5%, not a rate that rises each year.

What counts is the date the GST F7 is filed, not the date it is requested, so do not cut it fine. If you complete IRAS's GST Assisted Self-help Kit (ASK) annual review, all the returns in the reviewed year share one grace period, running a year from the filing deadline of that year's last return.

Worked Example Comparing the Penalties

This is a hypothetical example. Company B Pte Ltd has a 31 December year end, files Form C-S and is GST-registered. In January 2024 it bought a car for its director's use for $150,000 before GST, registered as an S-plated private car. Its bookkeeper:

• claimed the $13,500 GST on the purchase as input tax in the January to March 2024 return, although input tax on motor cars is blocked; and
• claimed $50,000 of capital allowances (one-third of the cost under section 19A(1)) for YA 2025, although private cars do not qualify.

A new accountant finds both errors in October 2026, before the YA 2026 return is filed.

Tax undercharged. For GST, it is the $13,500. For corporate tax, the corrected assessment gets the 50% YA 2025 Corporate Income Tax (CIT) Rebate just as the original return did, so work out the tax both ways, each after the rebate, and take the difference. The penalty is a percentage of that difference. Company B filed chargeable income of $300,000; without the wrong claim it would have been $350,000. The partial tax exemption is $102,500 in both cases (75% of the first $10,000 plus 50% of the next $190,000).

• Tax as filed: ($300,000 - $102,500) x 17% = $33,575, less the CIT Rebate of $16,787.50 = $16,787.50
• Tax as corrected: ($350,000 - $102,500) x 17% = $42,075, less the CIT Rebate of $21,037.50 = $21,037.50
• Tax undercharged: $21,037.50 - $16,787.50 = $4,250

Both rebates are below the $40,000 cap.

The $17,750 of tax is payable in every column, and late payment penalties are extra if it is not paid on time. The GST grace period closed on 30 April 2025, so that penalty is fixed at 5%; the corporate tax penalty is nil until 30 November 2026 and then rises by 5% of the tax undercharged each year.

Should You Make a Voluntary Disclosure?

Work through these questions in order:

1. Is it really an error? Some differences need no GST F7, such as an error only in Box 13 (revenue), or output or input tax with the cents dropped or rounded to the nearest dollar.
2. Did you underpay? Overpaying is a refund claim with no penalty: object within 2 months of the Notice of Assessment or claim section 93A error relief for corporate tax, or file an F7 for GST.
3. Is the year still open? Check the time limits for each tax.
4. Has IRAS already asked about it? If a query, audit or investigation covers the issue, a disclosure on it no longer qualifies, so answer IRAS fully.
5. Was any of it deliberate? Take advice first. The e-Tax Guide lists a separate channel for such cases (ifd@iras.gov.sg), and a qualifying disclosure may be compounded at a 200% penalty instead of prosecution.
6. For GST, can it go in your next F5? Yes, if the net GST error across all affected periods is $3,000 or less and, for each period, errors in boxes other than 6, 7 and 12 are within 5% of total supplies (Box 4).
7. Is the grace period still open? Disclose before it closes; if it has closed, each further year adds 5% for corporate tax.

How to Make a Voluntary Disclosure to IRAS

The applicant for a company should be its managing director or CEO, or an officer they authorise by a letter of authority submitted to IRAS.

1. Quantify every error by YA or GST period, with its tax effect. Check every open year for the same mistake: fixing one year and ignoring the same error in another is unlikely to count as complete.
2. Recompute. Prepare revised tax computations and supporting schedules for each affected YA, the financial statements (adjusted if the accounts were wrong), and revised Boxes 1 to 17 for each affected GST return.
3. Write the disclosure. Annex B asks for the applicant and company details, tax type, affected periods, a description of each error, how it was uncovered, the controls you are putting in place with dates and evidence (IRAS's example is new accounting software), and confirmations that the disclosure is complete, accurate and not directly related to any ongoing query or audit, and that you will cooperate and pay. Sign and date it.
4. Corporate tax: submit online. Use the Revise/ Object to Assessment digital service on myTax Portal (in Corppass, under Corporate Tax (Filing and Applications)) and upload the disclosure, computations, schedules and financial statements for an instant acknowledgement. Email (ctmail@iras.gov.sg) or post (55 Newton Road, Revenue House, Singapore 307987) also works. IRAS plans to require companies to use this service for all objections and revisions from 1 July 2027.
5. GST: file a GST F7. Under GST, select File GST Return/Edit Past Return, then Request for GST F7, and e-file within 14 days. Enter full revised figures for every box, not just the difference, and explain the error under Description of Errors without symbols such as $, % or :. A year's errors can be consolidated into one F7 for that year's last accounting period, or the last period in that year with an error.
6. Pay on time. Tax on a revised Notice of Assessment is due within one month of its date; the F7 acknowledgement page shows GST payment instructions. If you cannot pay, apply for a payment plan before the due date and keep to it.
7. Answer IRAS's follow-up queries promptly. Ignoring them can disqualify the disclosure.

Errors That Commonly Need Disclosure

Check these first in an SME's past returns. Each rule comes from IRAS's published guidance.

Deliberately leaving out cash sales is IRAS's own example of wilful evasion. For more on the GST side, see the top 7 GST mistakes SMEs make, expenses you cannot claim GST on and our GST F5 form guide.

VDP vs Being Audited by IRAS

Compare the VDP rates above with these outcomes:

Even without intent to evade, an incorrect return can also bring a fine and imprisonment (for corporate tax, up to $5,000 and/or three years). IRAS sets the actual penalty by weighing negligence, compliance history, cooperation during the audit and commitment to future compliance. One sign of negligence is having already been told the correct treatment by IRAS or a tax agent, so do not sit on an error your accountant has flagged.

IRAS treats a case as wilful when there is both an act, such as omitting income or overstating input tax, and knowledge that the act will reduce tax.

What disqualifies a disclosure

IRAS's published examples of failed disclosures include a complete set of documents not provided by the agreed deadline, omitted partnership income disclosed while IRAS was already investigating the business partner over the same partnership, ignoring IRAS's queries on the size of the errors, and not keeping to the payment arrangement. Errors outside an audit's scope can still qualify, as when a taxpayer under a GST audit disclosed withholding tax errors. If IRAS has already written to you, our IRAS audit support team can help you reply and decide what else to disclose.

How Far Back Should You Check?

• Corporate tax: IRAS normally has 4 years to raise an additional assessment, to 31 December of the fourth year after the YA (YA 2022 closes on 31 December 2026), with no limit for fraud or wilful default.
• GST: errors must be corrected, and refunds claimed, within 5 years from the end of the accounting period.
• Corporate tax refunds: section 93A error relief must be claimed within 4 years after the end of the year in which the assessment was made.
• Records: companies must keep them for at least 5 years from the relevant YA, so the documents should still exist.

When to Get Professional Help

You probably do not need to pay anyone for a single GST error within the $3,000 and 5% limits, which you can fix in your next F5, or for a simple refund claim. Get help when errors span several years or both taxes, IRAS has already sent a query, anything could look deliberate, a grace period is about to close, or you need a payment plan.

Tax Filing SG is run by ex-Big 4 Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA). For an IRAS voluntary disclosure we quantify the errors, rebuild the computations or GST F7s, draft the Annex B disclosure and handle IRAS's follow-up questions. Our GST filing service also covers F7 corrections and ongoing F5 returns.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I correct a mistake in my GST return?

File a GST F7: request it on myTax Portal under File GST Return/Edit Past Return, then e-file it within 14 days with the full revised figures for every box and the reason for the error. If the net GST error across all affected periods is $3,000 or less, and the errors in boxes other than 6, 7 and 12 are within 5% of each period's total supplies, you can adjust it in your next GST F5 instead. Corrections must be made within 5 years of the period end.

How do I amend Form C-S after filing?

To correct a mistake in Form C-S, use the Revise/ Object to Assessment digital service on myTax Portal and attach the financial statements, revised tax computation and supporting schedules. If the change increases your tax, include the Annex B information so it counts as a voluntary disclosure. If it reduces your tax and the 2-month objection period has passed, apply for section 93A error relief within 4 years after the end of the year in which the assessment was made.

What is the GST grace period for voluntary disclosure?

It is one year from the statutory filing deadline of the return containing the error, which is one month after the accounting period ends. For a January to March 2025 return due on 30 April 2025, it ended on 30 April 2026. A qualifying disclosure within the grace period attracts no penalty, and no late payment penalty on the extra GST if you pay it by the due date; after it, the penalty is a flat 5% of the GST undercharged.

Can I still make a voluntary disclosure after IRAS contacts me?

Yes, but only for errors that are not directly related to the scope of IRAS's query, audit or investigation. In one IRAS example, a business whose input tax claims were under audit disclosed separate output tax errors and still qualified for reduced penalties. Errors within the scope are no longer self-initiated, so answer IRAS fully and take advice before you reply.

Can I pay the extra tax from a voluntary disclosure in instalments?

Possibly. The programme lets you pay or arrange to pay the extra tax and any penalty, provided you keep to the arrangement. Standard corporate tax GIRO instalments are not granted for back-year taxes, so a company in genuine difficulty should apply for a longer payment plan through the Apply/Manage GIRO Plan digital service before the due date. IRAS considers reasons such as slow collections from debtors, lower sales or higher overheads, and may ask for documents.

Can a company make more than one voluntary disclosure?

Yes. IRAS states that every disclosure meeting the qualifying conditions may get reduced penalties, however often a taxpayer discloses. After receiving reduced-penalty treatment, though, you are expected to put adequate controls in place to prevent similar errors, and each disclosure must describe those controls.

Official Sources

• IRAS e-Tax Guide: IRAS' Voluntary Disclosure Programme (13th edition)
• IRAS: Voluntary disclosure of errors for reduced penalties
• IRAS: Correcting errors made in a GST return (GST F7)
• IRAS: After filing Form C-S, C-S (Lite) and C (objections, section 93A, time limits)
• IRAS: Penalties for errors in company tax returns
• IRAS: Conditions for claiming input tax
• IRAS: GST on deposits and downpayments
• IRAS: Capital allowances for companies

About Tax Filing SG — We are a Singapore accounting practice run by ex-Big 4 Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA). We handle accounting, corporate tax, GST and company secretarial work for Singapore SMEs, including overdue and late filings.

Last updated: 9 November 2026. This article is general information based on IRAS and ACRA guidance as at November 2026, not advice for your specific situation. Rules, rates and deadlines change, so check the official sources above or speak to us before acting.