Delaware recently announced it would send out invitations for its Voluntary Disclosure Agreements (VDAs) program to select businesses on February 24, 2023. The state will subsequently issue another round of letters on July 14, 2023.
To take advantage of this offer, holders must respond within 90 days of the date on the invitation letter.
Delaware continues to have the country's most active unclaimed property enforcement program. As part of entrance and acceptance into Delaware’s VDA program, businesses have the opportunity to forgo any potential interest or penalties assessments.
To prepare your business, encourage your CEO or CFO to be on the lookout for the VDA invitation from the Delaware Secretary of State’s office. Often, these letters can go unnoticed or are not brought to the appropriate person's attention. This can cause your business to miss the VDA invitation window.
If a business chooses not to respond to its invitation within 90 days, your company will likely be referred to a third-party firm for a potential audit. These audits can be strenuous and result in significant liability.
While Delaware holds a strong presence in the unclaimed property space, it is not the only state that offers VDA programs. In a post-COVID world, many other states strongly urge businesses to get into and remain in compliance as they look for ways to meet their budget revenue projections.
States like Florida and Massachusetts started the year with their own voluntary review letter campaigns. Though these states, and others, are less vigorous than Delaware, there is still a significant risk in ignoring these campaigns.
“Companies are now required to be more diligent than ever in meeting their responsibilities related to unclaimed property compliance,” said Eric Mauldin, Principal at Clearview Group. “Your business should be on the lookout for a letter from any state and take them seriously!”
The Delaware VDA program and other states’ programs bring a lot of complexity to your business. Partnering with an expert can relieve this complication and ensure your business stays compliant.
Contact Eric Mauldin for VDA or any other assistance related to unclaimed property holder compliance.
We are a full-service management consulting and CPA firm covering all aspects of audit, compliance, risk management, accounting, finance, tax, IT risk, and more. Just let us know what you need help with and an expert will be in touch!
Request Your Consultation
