Business Law
Business Law News 2018, Issue 2
Content
- 2018 Changes to Homeowner Bill of Rights
- Bln Editorial Board: Message from the Editors
- Business Law News Editorial Team
- Business Tax Changes in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
- Executive Committee: Message from the Chair
- Executive Committee of the Business Law Section 2017-2018
- MCLE Article: Test Your Knowledge: Recent Developments in Insolvency Law
- New Rules of Groundwater Management in California: a Primer on California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014
- Post Trump Tax Reform, How Legal Settlements are Taxed
- Standing Committee Officers of the Business Law Section 2017-2018
- Table of Contents
- The New Rules of Professional Conduct
- Stock Option Tax Rules Business Lawyers Should Know
Stock Option Tax Rules Business Lawyers Should Know
Robert W. Wood
Robert W. Wood is a tax lawyer with www.WoodLLP.com, and the author of numerous tax books, including Taxation of Damage Awards & Settlement Payments (www.TaxInstitute.com). This discussion is not intended as legal advice.
Employees who work for a salary and a cash bonus may not know much about stock options or restricted stock. But lawyers representing employees (or independent contractors) with these increasingly important forms of compensation should know the sometimes confusing tax rules that apply to stock-related compensation. In the corporate world, equity and equity-based compensation are major parts of the playing field. And with start-ups, this can be a key reason for candidates to join. In many jobs, the biggest paydays are from equity, not from cash.
Executives, rank and file workers, and even consultants might be offered stock or options in lieu of, or in addition to, their cash compensation. Even outside lawyers and other consultants can get a piece of the action, since non-employees (meaning independent contractors) sometimes receive options or restricted stock, too.