Tax errors can be costly! Don't draw unwanted attention from the IRS. Our Tax Center explains and illustrates the tax rules for sales of company stock, W-2s, withholding, estimated taxes, AMT, and more.
Exercising incentive stock options (ISOs) and holding the shares triggers the need for the alternative minimum tax (AMT) calculation. While you should consult a financial advisor, accountant, or tax lawyer about the AMT and your personal situation, this article details several strategies that experts often suggest.
If you must pay the alternative minimum tax (AMT), the best move may be to increase income and pay even more AMT! Find out why by reading this surprising analysis.
The tax reductions of the past few years have brought both good and bad news for holders of incentive stock options. While you may have lower capital gains rates when you hold the shares long enough after exercise, it is harder to avoid the risks of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) and to fully recover any AMT credit.
Featuring reverse vesting, early-exercise stock options are usually granted only by pre-IPO companies. The IRS regulations on ISOs increase risk in early-exercise options, making it crucial that you understand the tax treatment.
Tax returns involving income from stock options or employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs) can be confusing. Recent changes in IRS reporting rules haven't helped. This article explains errors and nasty surprises to avoid.
Learn about year-end planning for incentive stock options (ISOs). This article includes guidance on how to take advantage of the special ISO tax treatment and on the alternative minimum tax.
One strategy for minimizing AMT is to spread out the exercise of ISOs over multiple years. Following the calculation steps outlined in this FAQ, you can determine what is sometimes called your AMT cushion or crossover point...
Experts suggest several strategies for you to consider when you exercise ISOs and are concerned about triggering the alternative minimum tax. For example, near year-end or at the beginning of the year, you can...
It's not that simple. AMT requires you to account separately for ISO shares not only at exercise but also when the shares are sold. If you paid AMT as a result of exercising ISOs, your sale of the ISO shares provides an opportunity for you to recover...
When you are intermittently subject to the AMT, tax advisors suggest different planning ideas on shifting income and deductions. You have much less flexibility in your planning when you project paying AMT for the next several tax years. A basic plan is to...
Whether you still hold the ISO stock or you sold it in the past year, once you have paid AMT your tax returns get complex. The AMT is basically a prepayment of the tax on ISOs. You will get a credit for it in subsequent years, even when you have not sold the ISO stock. This means, for example, that you still need to...
You need to pay enough tax during the year through withholding or estimated tax payments to avoid penalties and interest. The tax that has to be paid includes any AMT attributable to the exercise of ISOs or any ordinary income from a disqualifying disposition. In these ISO situations, your employer does not...
When you trigger the alternative minimum tax (AMT) from an ISO exercise, you create dual-basis stock. This means that for the purposes of calculating your AMT gain and adjustment, the basis of the shares will be calculated differently for the regular tax and for AMT. For your regular tax, the basis is...
To eliminate the tax, you would have had to sell the stock in the calendar year of your exercise. While some general approaches to this situation exist, only with ISO stock is there a possible escape hatch. Fortunately...
Generally, stock options are exercisable when they vest. However, some pre-IPO companies grant ISOs that allow employees to exercise early into stock that is subject to a...
If you sell company shares for a loss and buy more company shares within 30 calendar days before or after the loss transaction, the federal tax code will...
Tax errors can be costly! Don't draw unwanted attention from the IRS. Our Tax Center explains and illustrates the tax rules for sales of company stock, W-2s, withholding, estimated taxes, AMT, and more.
Listen to our podcast on the basics of stock options, or watch our videos on core concepts and ISO taxes.
Test your knowledge with our 