How much is capital gains tax on stock options

Stocks and Taxes: What You Have to Pay, When.

By Bonnie Lee Published December 16, 2010 Features.

If you play the stock market (if you’re no longer shell shocked by the volatility of the past couple of years) you may want to know a little about the taxability of your securities transactions.

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Capital Gains Tax.

Any profit you enjoy from the sale of a stock held for at least a full year is taxed at the long-term capital gains rate, which is lower than the rate applied to your other taxable income. It’s 15% if you are in a 25% or higher tax bracket and only 5% if you are in the 15% or lower tax bracket. Profits from stocks held for less than a year are taxed at your ordinary income tax rate.

Ordinary dividends earned on your stock holdings are taxed at regular income tax rates, not at capital gains rates. However, “qualified dividends” are taxed at a very advantageous capital gains rate of 0% to a maximum of 15%. For dividends to be classified as “qualified” they must be paid by a U. S. corporation or a qualified foreign corporation and the holding period of the stock must be more than 60 days. There are plenty of other exceptions and definitions, so check with your broker or tax advisor to see if the dividends for your stock holdings are “qualified.” Dividends on stock held in a qualified retirement plan are not taxable income.

I believe Congress enacted the lower capital gains rate to drive investment. After all, most tax laws are passed as a form of directing social behaviors. Be sure to follow what happens to the capital gains rate during the course of the next several months. President Obama has thrown out the idea of raising the capital gains tax rate many times, although nothing has happened yet. In fact, at this writing, the talk is that the current rates will remain in effect for the next two years. If that doesn’t happen and as a year-end tax tip, I advise you to sell appreciated stock held more than a year while the lower rates are in effect.

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When determining your profit from a stock sale, it’s important to understand not only the formula, but the meaning of the variables in the formula. Certain circumstances applied to the variables can reduce your tax liability when you sell. Many taxpayers believe they must pay taxes on the full amount of the check they receive from the sale--not true. You can subtract your basis.

The formula is: Sales Proceeds – Basis = Taxable Profit or Deductible Loss.

Sale proceeds can be reduced by commissions paid to the broker.

Basis is the cost of the stock plus any reinvested dividends and commissions paid for acquisition. If you inherited the stock, the basis is the fair-market value of the stock on the date of the decedent’s death or the alternate valuation date. If the stock was received as a gift, the basis is the lower of the fair-market value or the basis of the donor at the time the gift was made.

Many investors benefit from selling a stock in a losing position to offset a gain, then turn around and buy the stock right back.

However, the IRS will not allow an investor to claim a capital loss if you sell a stock and buy it back within 30 days. The “wash rule” prevents you from claiming a loss on a sale of stock if you buy replacement stock within the 30 days before or after the sale and you will lose the offset.

One of the big limitations in stock investing is the amount of losses you are allowed to deduct on your tax return. If you sell stocks at a loss, you may deduct only $3,000 per year; the remainder of the loss is carried forward to future years. You may apply capital losses against capital gains in the current and future years to net out the overall profit or loss.

Deductible Investment Expenses.

A tax deduction often overlooked by investors is the cost of management fees paid to brokers, usually for management of mutual fund accounts or for advisory services. You may deduct these fees as an investment expense on Schedule A of your tax return. Some brokerage 1099s or year-end statements will state the total for the year, but many do not. You may have to call your broker to find out how much you paid.

Audit Taxpayers oftentimes forget about a stock sale when compiling their income tax return, which results in the IRS sending a CP-2000 letter. The letter is about 12-pages long and somewhere in the middle is a listing of omitted items and a calculation of the tax liability on those items. If you receive one showing an omitted stock sale, don’t just pay the tax bill. The IRS only knows about the stock sale; they have no clue as to what your basis in the stock is. Remember the formula earlier? You may actually have taken a loss on the stock and that means no tax liability whatsoever. In fact, you may be entitled to a refund. So call the phone number on the front of the letter and let them know that you will amend that tax return.

However, beginning Jan. 1, 2011 as a part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, brokerage firms will be required to report the cost basis and gain/loss information to the IRS on their form 1099, which will be issued in 2012. This will streamline the tax preparation process considerably and result in accurate CP-2000 letters being sent to taxpayers. It will also cut down on the number of amended tax returns that need to be filed as a result of omitting stock sales.

Bonnie Lee is an Enrolled Agent admitted to practice and representing taxpayers in all fifty states at all levels within the Internal Revenue Service. She is the owner of Taxpertise in Sonoma, CA and the author of Entrepreneur Press book, “Taxpertise, The Complete Book of Dirty Little Secrets and Hidden Deductions for Small Business that the IRS Doesn't Want You to Know,” available at all major booksellers. Follow Bonnie Lee on Twitter at BLTaxpertise and at Facebook.

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Get The Most Out Of Employee Stock Options.

An employee stock option plan can be a lucrative investment instrument if properly managed. For this reason, these plans have long served as a successful tool to attract top executives. In recent years, they've become a popular means to lure non-executive employees.

Unfortunately, some still fail to take full advantage of the money generated by their employee stock. Understanding the nature of stock options, taxation and the impact on personal income is key to maximizing such a potentially lucrative perk.

What's an Employee Stock Option?

An employee stock option is a contract issued by an employer to an employee to buy a set amount of shares of company stock at a fixed price for a limited period of time. There are two broad classifications of stock options issued: non-qualified stock options (NSO) and incentive stock options (ISO).

Non-qualified stock options differ from incentive stock options in two ways . First, NSOs are offered to non-executive employees and outside directors or consultants. By contrast, ISOs are strictly reserved for employees (more specifically, executives) of the company. Secondly, nonqualified options do not receive special federal tax treatment, while incentive stock options are given favorable tax treatment because they meet specific statutory rules described by the Internal Revenue Code (more on this favorable tax treatment is provided below).

NSO and ISO plans share a common trait: they can feel complex. Transactions within these plans must follow specific terms set forth by the employer agreement and the Internal Revenue Code.

Grant Date, Expiration, Vesting and Exercise.

To begin, employees are typically not granted full ownership of the options on the initiation date of the contract, also know as the grant date. They must comply with a specific schedule known as the vesting schedule when exercising their options. The vesting schedule begins on the day the options are granted and lists the dates that an employee is able to exercise a specific number of shares.

For example, an employer may grant 1,000 shares on the grant date, but a year from that date, 200 shares will vest, which means the employee is given the right to exercise 200 of the 1,000 shares initially granted. The year after, another 200 shares are vested, and so on. The vesting schedule is followed by an expiration date. On this date, the employer no longer reserves the right for its employee to purchase company stock under the terms of the agreement.

An employee stock option is granted at a specific price, known as the exercise price. It is the price per share that an employee must pay to exercise his or her options. The exercise price is important because it is used to determine the gain, also called the bargain element, and the tax payable on the contract. The bargain element is calculated by subtracting the exercise price from the market price of the company stock on the date the option is exercised.

Taxing Employee Stock Options.

The Internal Revenue Code also has a set of rules that an owner must obey to avoid paying hefty taxes on his or her contracts. The taxation of stock option contracts depends on the type of option owned.

For non-qualified stock options (NSO):

The grant is not a taxable event. Taxation begins at the time of exercise. The bargain element of a non-qualified stock option is considered "compensation" and is taxed at ordinary income tax rates. For example, if an employee is granted 100 shares of Stock A at an exercise price of $25, the market value of the stock at the time of exercise is $50. The bargain element on the contract is ($50 to $25) x 100 = $2,500. Note that we are assuming that these shares are 100 percent vested. The sale of the security triggers another taxable event. If the employee decides to sell the shares immediately (or less than a year from exercise), the transaction will be reported as a short-term capital gain (or loss) and will be subject to tax at ordinary income tax rates. If the employee decides to sell the shares a year after the exercise, the sale will be reported as a long-term capital gain (or loss) and the tax will be reduced.

Incentive stock options (ISO) receive special tax treatment:

The grant is not a taxable transaction. No taxable events are reported at exercise. However, the bargain element of an incentive stock option may trigger alternative minimum tax (AMT). The first taxable event occurs at the sale. If the shares are sold immediately after they are exercised, the bargain element is treated as ordinary income. The gain on the contract will be treated as a long-term capital gain if the following rule is honored: the stocks have to be held for 12 months after exercise and should not be sold until two years after the grant date. For example, suppose that Stock A is granted on January 1, 2007 (100% vested). The executive exercises the options on June 1, 2008. Should he or she wish to report the gain on the contract as a long-term capital gain, the stock cannot be sold before June 1, 2009.

Other Considerations.

Although the timing of a stock option strategy is important, there are other considerations to be made. Another key aspect of stock option planning is the effect that these instruments will have on overall asset allocation. For any investment plan to be successful, the assets have to be properly diversified.

An employee should be wary of concentrated positions on any company's stock. Most financial advisors suggest that company stock should represent 20 percent (at most) of the overall investment plan. While you may feel comfortable investing a larger percentage of your portfolio in your own company, it's simply safer to diversify. Consult a financial and/or tax specialist to determine the best execution plan for your portfolio.

Bottom Line.

Conceptually, options are an attractive payment method. What better way to encourage employees to participate in the growth of a company than by offering them to share in the profits? In practice, however, redemption and taxation of these instruments can be quite complicated. Most employees do not understand the tax effects of owning and exercising their options.

As a result, they can be heavily penalized by Uncle Sam and often miss out on some of the money generated by these contracts. Remember that selling your employee stock immediately after exercise will induce the higher short-term capital gains tax. Waiting until the sale qualifies for the lesser long-term capital gains tax can save you hundreds, or even thousands.

Ask a Fool: If I Sell a Stock, How Much Capital Gains Tax Will I Have to Pay?

Capital gains tax depends on your income and how long you held the investment.

Q: I sold a stock at a profit of about $2,000. How much capital gains tax can I expect to pay?

Capital gains tax depends on two things: your income and how long you held the investment.

First, determine whether we're talking about a long-term or short-term gain. The IRS defines a long-term capital gain as a profit you made on an investment held for more than a year. So, if you owned the stock for at least a year and a day, it's a long-term capital gain and is taxed at lower rates than short-term gains.

If the gain was short-term, figuring the tax is easy. The profit will simply be taxed at your ordinary income tax rate. For example, if you're in the 25% tax bracket, that's what you'll pay.

Long-term capital gains are not taxed for people in the two lowest brackets (10% and 15%), but are taxed at a 15% rate for those in the middle four brackets, and a 20% rate for taxpayers in the highest (39.6%) tax bracket.

In addition to these rates, taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income above $200,000 (singles) or $250,000 (married filing jointly) will pay an additional 3.8% tax on their net investment income, which was created as part of the Affordable Care Act.

For example, let's say that you held the investment in question for more than a year, and that you're in the 28% tax bracket. Your long-term capital gains tax rate would be 15%, and when applied to your $2,000 profit, this translates to a capital gains tax of $300.

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What Is the Tax Rate on Exercising Stock Options?

Understand the complex tax rules that cover employee stock options.

Most workers receive only a salary for their work, but some are fortunate enough to receive stock options as well. Employee stock options can dramatically increase your total compensation from your employer, but they also have tax consequences that can complicate your return. What tax rate you pay when you exercise stock options depends on what kind of options you receive.

Incentive stock options vs. nonqualified stock options.

The reward for incentive stock options is that you don't have to pay any tax on the difference between the exercise price and the fair market value of the stock you receive at the time you exercise the option. In addition, if you hold the stock for a year after you exercise -- and at least two years after the date you received the option -- then any profit is treated as long-term capital gains and taxed at a lower rate.

Why nonqualified stock options aren't as good as incentive stock options.

If the option doesn't meet the requirements of an incentive stock option, then it's taxed as a nonqualified stock option. In that case, you have to pay income tax at your ordinary income tax rate on the difference between the exercise price and the fair market value of the stock you receive at the time you exercise the option. That paper profit is added to your taxable income even if you don't sell the shares you get when exercising the option.

When you later sell your shares, the tax rate you pay depends on how long you hold the shares. If you sell the shares within a year of when you exercised the option, then you'll pay your full ordinary income tax rate on short-term capital gains. If you hold them longer than a year after exercise, then lower long-term capital gains rates will apply.

The key in stock option tax treatment is which of these two categories includes what you got from your employer. Talk with your HR department to make sure you know which one you have so you can handle it correctly.

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