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The number of voluntary disclosures of offshore income and assets to Canada’s tax authority nearly doubled in the year ended March 31 from the previous 12 months, the first time such figures have been gathered since the Canada Revenue Agency put in a whistleblower reward system to root out tax cheats. The amount of previously unreported income more than doubled to $780 million.

The figures obtained from the Canada Revenue Agency by the Financial Post illustrate a sharp increase in a growing trend of self-reporting. More than 10,000 voluntary disclosures of offshore activities were made in the past year, up from just 1,215 in 2006-07.

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That number had grown to 5,248 by March of 2014, a year in which $303 million in previously unreported income was identified.

Taxpayers who use the CRA’s voluntary disclosures program must pay taxes owed, plus interest, but they may avoid heavy penalties and prosecution under the law that could result if their offshore activities are discovered by Canadian tax authorities.