House Republicans issued a tax reform bill on Thursday with at least one feature that start-up employees should be excited about– a provision that would make it easier for them to exercise their stock options.
Venture capitalist Keith Rabois, who is also executive chairman of real estate platform OpenDoor, praised this aspect of the GOP’s tax plan on Twitter (although he was not pleased with the rest of the bill):
Stock options are one major reason that people who could command higher salaries elsewhere will work for, or create, a new company. But today, employees have to pay taxes up front when they exercise their stock options, with share prices set by the company. That can be a problem for people without cash on hand.
Existing tax laws around equity-based compensation can even drive a company’s employees to let their options go, and miss out on the future windfall when that start-up goes public or is acquired at a good price.
The CEO and President of the National Venture Capital Association, Bobby Franklin, said in a statement:
“We are pleased the House Ways and Means Committee…[included] an NVCA-backed proposal to allow startup employees to defer taxes on their exercised stock options without a liquid market to sell them.” The NVCA views this policy, and some others in the Republican tax plan, as encouraging new company formation.
Source: Tech CNBC
Tax reform bill could be a huge boon for start-up employees