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Tax 101: Taxation of Equity-Based Compensation and Cross Border Issues

Tax 101: Taxation of Equity-Based Compensation and Cross Border Issues

Equity-based compensation has long been a popular way to attract talent and align the interests of corporations and service providers. This type of compensation allows cash-poor companies to attract highly skilled individuals to join the company workforce or its board of directors. With mobility that existed in the pre-pandemic world, noncitizen individuals have moved to the U.S. becoming U.S. tax residents at the time of vesting or exercising conversion rights. Galia Antebi and Nina Krauthamer examine the tax rules in the U.S. Also discussed is the cross-border tax problem that arises when equity based compensation is taxed at different times in the home country and the U.S. and no effective mechanism is available to eliminate double taxation.

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French v. U.S. Share-based Compensation Plans: A Comparative Analysis

French v. U.S. Share-based Compensation Plans: A Comparative Analysis

Share-based compensation incentives are commonly used by corporations worldwide.  Employees defer income or realize income immediately at a low value, and the employer accepts a deferred or reduced deduction for compensation expense.  Three or four key moments in the life of a stock-based compensation plan can be identified as taxable events: (i) the grant of share-based compensation, (ii) the exercise of an option, (iii) the “vesting” of the underlying shares, and (iv) their subsequent sale.  Fanny Karaman and Stanley C. Ruchelman explore tax treatment in France and the U.S. in the context of a French employee who participates in a French plan and is then assigned to the U.S.

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