Form · Taxation
Voluntary disclosure to the ATO: completion guide and penalty-reduction checklist
Guide to making a voluntary disclosure in the ATO's approved form: choosing the channel, describing and quantifying each error, and securing the penalty reductions in s 284-225 of Schedule 1 to the TAA.
- Kind
- Form. A form to complete, or a guide to completing an official one.
- Where it applies
- Australia
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked against the cited sources on 17 October 2026.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Link to the official form. Licence: ATO copyright notice: free to copy, adapt and distribute with no implied ATO endorsement. Approved form: link only; always use the current version from ato.gov.au.
Where this comes from
The official form is published by ato.gov.au; this page is a completion guide. Last checked on 2026-10-17.
When to use it
Use when a client has found an error in a return, activity statement or other statement that has caused a shortfall or a false or misleading statement. Do not lodge a disclosure until you have advised on privilege, the period of review and any criminal exposure where the error may involve deliberate conduct.
How AI may be used
AI may help reconcile workpapers, quantify the shortfall and draft the description of each error. Whether, when and how to disclose, and how penalty reductions apply, are judgements for the lawyer and the client.
AI may
- Reconcile the original return, the corrected figures and the workpapers, and list unexplained differences
- Recalculate the shortfall for each period and show the working
- Draft a factual description of each error from the lawyer's notes
- Check the draft disclosure covers every period and tax type in the working papers
AI must not
- Must not decide whether to disclose, the timing, or what to say about how the error arose
- Must not characterise the client's conduct (for example, as an innocent mistake)
- Must not be given privileged investigation material or tax file numbers in a tool not approved for that data
The lawyer checks
- Whether the client has been told of an examination, and so whether the 80% or 20% reduction is available
- The disclosure is complete and accurate: a partial or misleading disclosure creates new exposure
- Every figure reproduced from source records, and the approved channel used
- Privilege over the investigation and advice is preserved in what is disclosed
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Official form
Open the official form. Always use the current version from the issuer. Licence: ATO copyright notice: free to copy, adapt and distribute with no implied ATO endorsement. Approved form: link only; always use the current version from ato.gov.au..
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Taxation
- Letter of tax advice with confidence rating and penalty position
- Letter responding to an ATO formal notice to give information or produce documents (with privilege claim)
- Private ruling application (ATO approved form): completion guide
- Objection to an ATO assessment or decision: completion guide and grounds structure
- Verification checklist for AI-assisted tax research, advice and objections
- Client notice on AI use with tax records and tax file numbers