About the voluntary disclosure

Why you may need to make a voluntary disclosure and why you need to use the approved form.

On this page

• Types of things to disclose
• Using the approved form
• When a disclosure is not a voluntary disclosure

Types of things to disclose

You make a voluntary disclosure to:

• inform us of a mistake or something left out of a lodgment, such as  
  • you have income that you haven't disclosed
  • you claimed deductions that you weren't entitled to
  • you claimed credits that you weren't entitled to
   
• tell us about any false or misleading information.

The voluntary disclosure gives you the opportunity to correct your tax affairs.

Using the approved form

To make a voluntary disclosure you need to do so 'in the approved form'. This means you must:

• give us the information we require to work out what the error or correct position is
• provide the information in the required manner, such as by letter, specific form through an approved ATO electronic channel, or (in limited circumstances) by phone or face to face
• ensure that it contains a declaration signed by you or your authorised person.

When a disclosure is not a voluntary disclosure

There are several circumstances where a disclosure is not a voluntary disclosure, such as:

• agreeing with a shortfall amount that we have already told you about or answering questions
• providing general information or invoices
• saying that you don't understand the law.

In these situations, please work with us to provide more information.