What’s the difference between back filing and a VDA?

Back filing submits the specific returns you missed, on the record, under your own name. A VDA is a broader arrangement with a state to resolve an unregistered period before it contacts you, typically in exchange for a capped look-back and reduced penalties. Kintsugi’s analysis flags which applies to your situation.

Can I still get a VDA if a state has already contacted me?

Generally no. A VDA depends on coming forward before the state reaches out; once contact has been made, the voluntary window is usually closed and back filing becomes the path instead.

Does a VDA erase the tax I owe, or just the penalties?

A VDA caps how far back a state will look and typically waives or reduces penalties. It doesn’t erase the underlying tax due within that capped window.

What happens to a state notice I get after signing up for Kintsugi Mail?

It’s received and scanned, or taken in digitally, then routed into your virtual inbox, where it’s triaged so your team knows what response it needs.

Does a Kintsugi Mail address create nexus in that state?

No. Setting up a virtual mailing address for tax correspondence does not, on its own, create physical nexus.

What does Kintsugi actually provide if my business gets audited?

While Kintsugi doesn’t provide direct audit support services, the platform already has all the information you need to support your position in the audit, including your transactions, products, filings, and exemption certificates.

Resolve · Back filing, VDAs & notices

Behind on compliance? Get current with Kintsugi.

Falling behind on sales tax, VAT, or GST doesn’t mean staying behind. Kintsugi resolves past exposure through back filing (submitting the returns you missed) or a Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (coming forward before the jurisdiction does, on better terms), handles the jurisdiction notices that come with it through Kintsugi Mail, and produces the records you’d need at audit.

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Monitor, file, and remit, all in one place.

Back filing

Historical returns, prepared and filed

A back filing is a return for a period that’s already closed, submitted after the fact, typically because a jurisdiction flagged unfiled returns or because a registration was backdated ahead of when Kintsugi started filing for you.

Kintsugi identifies what’s missing, tells you before doing anything, and prepares each return once you confirm. From there it works like any other filing: the return is reviewed and approved before it goes to the state.

The buy-side blind spot

Back exposure isn’t only about what you sold

Use tax, the liability created when you buy from an out-of-state or under-taxed vendor, is easy to miss because nothing at checkout flags it the way a sale does.

Kintsugi calculates use tax alongside sales tax and nets it against whatever the vendor already charged, so buy-side exposure gets caught the same way sell-side exposure does.

Use Tax

When registering isn’t enough

Registering covers you going forward. It doesn’t erase tax owed for periods before your registration date, and a state can still assess that back tax on its own timeline. A Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (VDA) is built for that gap.

Register now

Best when: Little to no uncollected back tax
Penalties: State may assess in full
Look-back period: Full statutory period
Tax collection begins: Once the request is processing

Come forward with a VDA

Best when: Months or years of uncollected tax in that jurisdiction
Penalties: Usually waived or reduced
Look-back period: Typically capped around 3–4 years
Tax collection begins: Only after the registration is complete

The catch is timing: once a state has reached out, it’s no longer voluntary, and a VDA is usually off the table.

How Kintsugi runs a VDA

Kintsugi flags it
Where Kintsugi’s analysis shows a VDA is the better path, an “Explore VDA” prompt appears when you go to register. It starts a conversation, not a commitment, and you can still register normally.
You complete the intake form
Once a VDA is underway, Kintsugi sends you an intake form.
Kintsugi files the application
Kintsugi files the initial application, anonymously where the state allows it.
You sign the agreement
When the state responds, typically in 30 to 60 days, Kintsugi prepares the agreement for your signature.

Selling outside the U.S.? VDA is the U.S. term, but Kintsugi understands the country-specific voluntary disclosure or correction programs where you sell, so the same capped look-back and reduced penalties may apply.

Already have a notice, or think you might owe back tax?

Once a state contacts you, the VDA window usually closes. The earlier you come forward, the more options stay open.

Talk to a specialist

Jurisdiction notices

One mailbox for every state notice, virtual and physical

Kintsugi Mail is your official mailing address for state and local tax correspondence. Physical mail is received, scanned, and routed digitally; digital notices follow the same path. Everything lands in your virtual inbox. Kintsugi triages and lets you know which require your response or action. No more notices sitting unopened in a mailbox nobody even checks.

At audit

What Kintsugi brings when the state comes knocking

At audit, Kintsugi already contains the records you need: filing history across every jurisdiction, filed returns and their approvals, and exemption certificates on request.

What you still own: the underlying facts about your business (where you operate, what you sell) and the final call on strategy, like whether to pursue a VDA in a given state. Kintsugi prepares the documentation; you and the state settle the outcome.

Manage Exemptions

Kintsugi Guarantee

“If a calculation we made or a filing error of ours leads to penalties or interest, we pay it.”

That’s the Kintsugi Guarantee, and it covers the filings and calculations Kintsugi makes on your behalf going forward. It doesn’t erase tax you already owed before working with Kintsugi; resolving that is exactly what back filing and VDAs, above, are for.

Common questions on getting current

Know exactly where you stand before a state tells you.

A free nexus study shows where you have exposure and what it would take to get current.

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