In 2016-17, there has been a 20 per cent increase in the number of voluntary disclosures submitted to the ABF, with over $35 million in revenue being collected.

A voluntary disclosure is a communication to the ABF—through a written error notice—of an error, omission or adjustment in a statement (excluding outturn or cargo reports) made to the ABF, such as an error in an import or export declaration.
A voluntary disclosure must disclose fully, truthfully and voluntarily, the details of the relevant import or export declarations and the nature of the errors. In making a voluntary disclosure, you are protected from offences in sections 243T and 243U of the Customs Act 1901 that relate to false or misleading statements.

 Submitting a voluntary disclosure to the ABF will establish the relevant protections and the Voluntary Disclosures unit will contact you when processing is complete or if additional information is required.

 If you want to make a voluntary disclosure, you should first review the relevant voluntary disclosures information. The Voluntary Disclosure unit can be contacted at [email protected] if further advice is required.
Customs Compliance Branch is also working with industry members of the Compliance Advisory Group to improve the guidance information available on voluntary disclosures and this should be available in early 2018."

 The CBFCA as a member of the CAG looks forward to receiving the draft content for review and comment on the final guidance package.