An incentive stock option (ISO) is a corporate benefit that gives an employee the right to buy shares of company stock at a discounted price with the added benefit of possible tax breaks on the profit. The profit on qualified ISOs is usually taxed at the capital gains rate, not the higher rate for ordinary income.
When you exercise Incentive Stock Options, you buy the stock at a pre-established price, which could be well below actual market value. The advantage of an ISO is you do not have to report income when you receive a stock option grant or when you exercise that option.
To implement these strategies effectively, however, it's important to understand some of the pros and cons of incentive programs:
If you're granted a restricted stock award, you have two choices: you can pay ordinary income tax on the award when it's granted and pay long-term capital gains taxes on the gain when you sell, or you can pay ordinary income tax on the whole amount when it vests.
Why do employees prefer ISOs to NQOs? Employees who meet the required holding period for ISOs will treat the difference between the sales proceeds and exercise price as a long-term capital gain.
When you exercise stock options that you bought on the market, any profits you make are considered capital gains. As such, these profits are not considered compensation from working and so do not affect the amount of your Social Security benefits.
Another option is to wait to exercise until the IPO and do what's called a cashless exercise. Essentially, you can sell your shares on the same day that you exercise them and cover the cost of exercising (including the AMT you trigger) by selling a portion of your shares.
In addition to encouraging unethical behavior, financial incentives can create pay inequality, which in turn can cause turnover and harm performance. Numerous studies have shown that people judge the fairness of their pay not in absolute terms, but rather in terms of how it compares with the pay earned by peers.
There can be huge financial benefits that come from employee stock options. Higher-level employees can often convert their options into six-figure and seven-figure profits. In such cases, the profits from stock options can exceed their base salaries.
Incentive Stock Options (IRC ยง422)
The advantage of incentive stock options is the favorable tax treatment for employees (generally employees' favorite variety of equity compensation). The disadvantages are the statutory requirements (quite constrictive) and the lack of any deduction for the Company.
You can use any version of TurboTax, however, form 3921 is an informational form only. It is generally not entered on your tax return unless you then sold the stock, or if you could be subject to alternative minimum tax (AMT).
Since stock you receive through stock grants and RSUs is essentially compensation, you'll usually see it reported automatically on your W-2. Typically, taxes are withheld to go against what you might owe when you do your taxes.
With RSUs, you are taxed when the shares are delivered, which is almost always at vesting. Your taxable income is the market value of the shares at vesting. You have compensation income subject to federal and employment tax (Social Security and Medicare) and any state and local tax.
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