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Published:   |   Last Updated: March 5, 2026

Improve the IRS’s Criminal Voluntary Disclosure Practice

The IRS should reform its Criminal Voluntary Disclosure Practice to restore accessibility and effectiveness, enabling taxpayers to self-correct compliance failures while supporting revenue collection and voluntary compliance.

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TAS Recommends

To restore the effectiveness and integrity of the Criminal VDP, TAS recommends the IRS:

Recommendation 9-1

Engage Stakeholders to Improve Program Design: Collaborate with stakeholders to identify and address procedural or policy barriers to VDP participation. Implement revision to reduce administration burden and increase accessibility by the end of FY 2026.

Recommendation 9-2

Simplify the Application Process: Review and revise Form 14457, Voluntary Disclosure Practice Preclearance Request and Application, and relevant sections of the IRM and IRS.gov by the end of FY 2026 to simplify the VDP application process and make it more understandable, user-friendly, and transparent to taxpayers and their representatives to encourage more compliance with our tax system.

Quarterly Updates

No updates to report for the first quarter of FY 2026. Progress during this period was affected by the lapse in appropriations and operational impacts, including reduced staffing capacity, reassignment of work and priorities, and reevaluation of TAS’s approach to managing systemic advocacy objectives and associated initiatives. TAS is refining its plans, quarterly activities, and success measures and will resume providing updates in the second quarter, including reporting any outcomes achieved during the first quarter.

Status

Return to FY26 Objective Statuses