myStockOptions.com Close this window
Resources: Newsletter Archives

REPORT OF CONTENT ADDED,
UPDATED, REVISED, OR EXPANDED
January, February, and March 2007

1st QUARTER 2007: CONTENT ADDED, UPDATED, REVISED, OR EXPANDED

TAX CENTER

CONTENT TOPICS: Articles and FAQs

GLOBAL TAX GUIDE: China, France, Germany, India, Spain

GLOSSARY: New terms include mobile employee, sourced income, tradeable stock options, and more

ASK THE EXPERTS: Making sense of withholding for stock options and restricted stock on Form W-2; and more

MSO Pro is our membership level for financial and wealth advisors. It lets you track and model stock grants for multiple clients, and provides online tools for communicating with clients.

Content with the This is premium content symbol requires Premium or Pro Membership at myStockOptions.com.


EDITOR'S WELCOME

The first quarter of 2007 kept our editorial team busy with many updates and additions to the award-winning content of myStockOptions.com. In addition, we sent email alerts on the taxation of income from backdated stock options and on Rule 10b5-1 trading plans.

We continue to expand our content in the section Life Events. Last year we started a new article series on retirement and added FAQs on retirement-related topics. In a new section (Life Events: College Funding), we have published the first of two articles by financial advisor Troy Onink about paying for college expenses with stock grants.

Elsewhere on the site, a new article about the taxation of stock grants for mobile international employees now complements the country-specific summaries in our Global Tax Guide. Written by Mark Miller of Deloitte Tax LLP, Taking An Overseas Assignment: Stock Compensation For Mobile Employees explains the key issues that surround cross-border taxation when you move between countries during the term of your stock grants.

Explore Our Award-Winning Library Of Content

Below is a selection of content we added or revised during the first quarter of 2007. Click on any of the section headings: the link will take you to the relevant topic area of the website. To view the content of any title that bears the This is premium content logo, you must be a Premium or Pro Member of myStockOptions.com.

Please contact us at 617-734-1979 or sales@mystockoptions.com if you would like to receive more information on licensing our content and/or tools, on our custom websites for companies, and on our bulk Premium Memberships to our public site. Meanwhile, please consider the benefits of an individual subscription, and see who becomes a Premium Member of myStockOptions.com.

—Bruce Brumberg, Editor-in-Chief


TAX CENTER

Tax Center: Stock Options & SARs

When I file an extension to complete my tax return after the IRS deadline on April 17, are there any mistakes I should avoid that involve stock grant income? This is premium content

In what ways can I pay my taxes if I don't have the money to pay them with my tax return? This is premium content

Did the tax laws of May 2003 and May and December 2006 change the taxation of incentive stock options? Did it, for example, remove the exercise spread from the calculation of alternative minimum tax? This is premium content

What happens if I live in state A when my stock options are granted, state B when I perform some of my services, state C when I exercise the options, and state D when I sell the shares? This is premium content

Do I get a tax credit if I paid AMT when I exercised an ISO? How does it work, and did the tax law of December 2006 change this? This is premium content

Tax Center: Restricted Stock & RSUs

What provisions in the American Jobs Creation Act, particularly on deferred compensation, can affect my stock grants?

I received a notice (CP-2000) from the IRS stating that, according to last year's tax return, I owe money for the sale of my restricted stock when it vested. I thought I paid all the taxes through withholding at vesting. How do I reply? This is premium content

How soon after my restricted stock vests must the IRS receive my withholding taxes? This is premium content

When I file an extension to complete my tax return after the IRS deadline on April 17, are there any mistakes I should avoid that involve stock grant income? This is premium content

Return to table of contents


CONTENT SECTIONS

Basics

Basics: Grants

Do I pay any taxes when stock options are granted to me? This is premium content

Basics: Vesting

According to surveys, how are unvested stock options most commonly treated upon various types of termination? This is premium content

Basics: Exercise

How do I exercise an option for cash? This is premium content

What methods may be used to exercise an option? This is premium content

What forms of exercise notice will my company accept? This is premium content

Do blackout or lockdown periods exist for stock plans? Are there periods during which you can't exercise options or buy stock in an ESPP? This is premium content

Basics: Alternatives

Restricted Stock Versus Stock Options: Making A Rational Choice (Part 2) This is premium content

What do examples and surveys show about the effects mandatory expensing is having on my stock grants? This is premium content

Basics: Valuation & Expensing

What do examples and surveys show about the effects mandatory expensing is having on my stock grants? This is premium content

What does it mean when someone says that employee stock options have both face (or intrinsic) value and time value? This is premium content

Return to table of contents

NQSOs

NQSOs: Taxes

What happens if I live in state A when my stock options are granted, state B when I perform some of my services, state C when I exercise the options, and state D when I sell the shares? This is premium content

NQSOs: Taxes Advanced

Taking An Overseas Assignment: Stock Compensation For Mobile Employees This is premium content

What provisions in the American Jobs Creation Act, particularly on deferred compensation, can affect my stock grants?

My company backdated more stock options than just those of the senior executives. How does this affect employees like me and the taxation of my stock grants? This is premium content

Return to table of contents

ISOs & AMT

ISOs: Basics

Do I receive any required information statement from my company about exercises, purchases, and sales related to my stock options and/or employee stock purchase plan? This is premium content

ISOs: Limits

When I am no longer with my company (e.g., because of job loss or disability), will tax-law limits or deadlines dictate when I must exercise an ISO?

ISOs: Taxes Advanced

Taking An Overseas Assignment: Stock Compensation For Mobile Employees This is premium content

My company backdated more stock options than just those of the senior executives. How does this affect employees like me and the taxation of my stock grants? This is premium content

What happens if I live in state A when my stock options are granted, state B when I perform some of my services, state C when I exercise the options, and state D when I sell the shares? This is premium content

ISOs: AMT

I held ISO stock on which I paid AMT in a prior year. Do I still need to determine my AMT even if I do not sell the stock? This is premium content

Do I get a tax credit if I paid AMT when I exercised an ISO? How does it work, and did the tax law of December 2006 change this? This is premium content

ISOs: AMT Advanced

I have large unused AMT credits. Does the tax law of December 2006 help me use them quicker? This is premium content

Did the tax laws of May 2003 and May and December 2006 change the taxation of incentive stock options? Did it, for example, remove the exercise spread from the calculation of alternative minimum tax? This is premium content

When I hold ISO stock, how far must the stock price drop from the market price at exercise for AMT to exceed what my ordinary income tax would be if I sold the shares this year? This is premium content

What ISO strategies can help minimize AMT liability? This is premium content

After I have paid AMT for my ISO exercise and hold, what are some mistakes that I must avoid on my tax return? This is premium content

Return to table of contents

Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPPs)

Employee Stock Purchase Plans: Basics

How does an ESPP work if it is not a qualified plan under Internal Revenue Code Section 423? This is premium content

Employee Stock Purchase Plans: Rules

ESPPs And Your Financial Planning (Part 1) This is premium content

Do I receive any required information statement from my company about exercises, purchases, and sales related to my stock options and/or employee stock purchase plan? This is premium content

Do blackout or lockdown periods exist for stock plans? Are there periods during which you can't exercise options or buy stock in an ESPP? This is premium content

Employee Stock Purchase Plans: Taxes Advanced

ESPPs And Your Financial Planning (Part 1) This is premium content

If my company eliminates the lookback for my ESPP, will the tax treatment change? This is premium content

Return to table of contents

Restricted Stock & Restricted Stock Units

Restricted Stock: Advanced

Restricted Stock Versus Stock Options: Making A Rational Choice (Part 2) This is premium content

How does my grant of stock options or restricted stock affect my other employee benefits, such as 401(k) contributions? This is premium content

Should I set up a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan to cover the stock I will sell or surrender to pay withholding taxes when my restricted stock vests? This is premium content

What do examples and surveys show about the effects mandatory expensing is having on my stock grants? This is premium content

Restricted Stock Units

Why would my company grant me restricted stock units (RSUs) instead of restricted stock? This is premium content

Restricted Stock: Taxes

Taking An Overseas Assignment: Stock Compensation For Mobile Employees This is premium content

Return to table of contents

Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs)

Stock Appreciation Rights: Basics

What do examples and surveys show about the effects mandatory expensing is having on my stock grants? This is premium content

Stock Appreciation Rights: Taxes

What provisions in the American Jobs Creation Act, particularly on deferred compensation, can affect my stock grants?

Return to table of contents

Advisors, Have You Heard About MSO Pro?
Made just for you, with tools to track and model grants for multiple clients, and proactive communications to build relationships. Click here for more information.

Financial Planning

Financial Planning: Advanced Strategies

What provisions in the American Jobs Creation Act, particularly on deferred compensation, can affect my stock grants?

What are price and time targets for stock option exercises? This is premium content

What ISO strategies can help minimize AMT liability? This is premium content

Financial Planning: Diversification

How do I calculate whether my after-tax gains will be greater by investing my current option spread into a mutual fund or a diversified stock portfolio, as opposed to just waiting to exercise the options at the end of the term? This is premium content

Financial Planning: High Net Worth

Taking An Overseas Assignment: Stock Compensation For Mobile Employees This is premium content

Financial Planning: Estate Planning

Why would I transfer stock options to a living trust? What is the tax impact? This is premium content

Return to table of contents

Job Events

Job Events: Hiring

Taking An Overseas Assignment: Stock Compensation For Mobile Employees This is premium content

What does it mean when someone says that employee stock options have both face (or intrinsic) value and time value? This is premium content

Job Events: Termination

When I am no longer with my company (e.g., because of job loss or disability), will tax-law limits or deadlines dictate when I must exercise an ISO?

According to surveys, how are unvested stock options most commonly treated upon various types of termination? This is premium content

Return to table of contents

Life Events

NEW! Life Events: College Funding

Funding Your Child's College Education With Stock Options And Other Stock Grants (Part 1) This is premium content

Life Events: Disability

Does income from stock options affect my payments under disability policies or pension plans? This is premium content

Life Events: Retirement

How do stock grants affect the income limits of a Roth IRA? This is premium content

When should I start taking Social Security benefits? This is premium content

Life Events: Retirement Plans

How does my grant of stock options or restricted stock affect my other employee benefits, such as 401(k) contributions? This is premium content

Does income from stock options affect my payments under disability policies or pension plans? This is premium content

Life Events: Death Taxes

Why would I transfer stock options to a living trust? What is the tax impact? This is premium content

Return to table of contents

M&A

M&A Impact

What will happen to my vested stock options if my employer is acquired by another company? This is premium content

Return to table of contents

SEC Law & Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plans

SEC Law: Basics

My company backdated more stock options than just those of the senior executives. How does this affect employees like me and the taxation of my stock grants? This is premium content

SEC Law: Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plans

How To Use Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plans To Sell Company Stock (Part 1) This is premium content

Should I set up a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan to cover the stock I will sell or surrender to pay withholding taxes when my restricted stock vests? This is premium content

How widespread is the use of Rule 10b5-1 trading plans? Is information on their use available? This is premium content

What are price and time targets for stock option exercises? This is premium content

Is it possible to violate insider-trading laws by terminating or modifying my Rule 10b5-1 trading plan when I know material nonpublic information? This is premium content

How long do Rule 10b5-1 trading plans last? This is premium content

Return to table of contents

Pre-IPO

Pre-IPO: Early Exercise

My company will go public soon. Can it grant me options now at an exercise price that is substantially lower than the expected IPO price? This is premium content

Return to table of contents


GLOBAL TAX GUIDE This is premium content

UPDATED OR EXPANDED

China
France
Germany
India
Spain

Return to table of contents


GLOSSARY

NEW!

employee choice program
mobile employee
net unrealized appreciation
sourced income
stock-for-stock exercise
tradeable stock options

UPDATED OR EXPANDED

blackout period
covered call
golden parachute
grossup
run rate
stock swap
variable accounting
wash sale

Return to table of contents


ASK THE EXPERTS

NEW!

Last year I exercised 5,000 stock options, and 2,000 shares of my restricted stock grant vested. I now have my W-2. How can I tell whether my company included this income, and what the tax withholding is?

Last year I sold 10,000 shares of company stock that I received a few years ago from a stock option exercise and restricted stock vesting. I have the 1099-B from my broker showing the net proceeds from the sales. Given that I received the shares some time ago, how do I determine their cost basis for Schedule D of my tax return?

Return to table of contents

The content is provided as an educational resource. myStockOptions.com shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or any actions taken in reliance thereon.
Copyright © 2000-2008 myStockPlan.com, Inc. United States Patent 7,353,200.
myStockOptions.com is a federally registered trademark. Please do not copy or excerpt this information
without the express permission of myStockOptions.com.
Contact editors@mystockoptions.com for licensing information.