Equity Compensation Planner
Compare selling RSUs, NSOs or ISOs immediately with a later sale. See exercise cash, federal taxes, AMT and potential credit recovery.
- Methods explained
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- Compare saved scenarios
- Household prefill
Both choices use 2026 tax rules and the same annual wages and deductions through your planned sale year. Future stock prices are your assumptions.
Your grant
Annual tax assumptions
Use the verified carryforward from Form 8801. It is not the total AMT you have paid. This estimate assumes no other tax credits.
Cash after exercise and federal tax
Cash totals include modeled credit recovery through 2027. Unused AMT credit and capital losses are not counted as cash. A same-year sale may still require short-term exercise financing.
Tax comparison
| Planned sale | Immediate sale | |
|---|---|---|
| Sale proceeds | $400,000 | $300,000 |
| Exercise cost | $50,000 | $50,000 |
| Compensation income | $0 | $250,000 |
| Regular capital gain or loss | $350,000 | $0 |
| AMT capital gain or loss | $100,000 | $0 |
| Employee payroll tax | $0 | $0 |
| Incremental federal tax after credits | $77,328 | $81,700 |
| Unused AMT credit | $12,288 | $0 |
| Regular capital loss carryforward | $0 | $0 |
| AMT capital loss carryforward | $0 | $0 |
Qualifying ISO disposition: both holding periods are met.
Planned sale: tax by year
| Year | Regular tax change | AMT change | Credit created | Extra credit used | NIIT change | Payroll tax | Total tax change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $0 | $58,348 | $58,348 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $58,348 |
| 2027 | $52,500 | $0 | $0 | $46,060 | $12,540 | $0 | $18,980 |
Tax changes compare the grant with the same household without it. Extra credit used reduces that change; credit created is available for future years.
How it works
One grant, fully vested shares, one arm's-length sale, no other investment income or losses. RSUs settle at vesting. NSOs have no readily ascertainable value at grant. All entered wages are assumed subject to federal income, Social Security and Medicare tax. The Social Security cap applies to your wages separately from your spouse's.
ISO qualification requires a sale more than one year after exercise and more than two years after grant. A same-year sale removes the exercise AMT adjustment. A later sale uses a separate AMT basis. Disqualifying-sale compensation is limited to the smaller of the exercise spread or gain over strike price. ISO income is excluded from payroll tax.
The model limits net capital loss deductions to $3,000 a year ($1,500 for separate filers), separately for regular tax and AMT. It estimates credit created by exercise-related deferral AMT and uses credits only when regular tax exceeds tentative minimum tax, starting in a later tax year. Wages and deductions stay constant in intervening years. This is not a refund guarantee or a completed Form 8801.
Estimates exclude state/local tax, other tax credits, tax withholding, time value of money, transaction costs, vesting schedules, employment-status rules, the $100,000 ISO limit, 83(b)/83(i) elections and restricted stock awards. ESPP lots have a separate ESPP sale planner. An underwater option exercise may be uneconomic. A higher assumed stock price is not a benefit of holding by itself; you bear the risk of loss.
Sources: IRS Publication 525, Publication 15-B, Form 6251, Form 8801.
How it works›
Model and assumptions. Models one grant and sale with separate ordinary income, capital gain, payroll tax and ISO AMT bases. It holds the implemented tax year’s law and entered wages/deductions fixed through sale; state/local taxes, fees and several credit interactions are excluded. Source contracts are in AMT and equity methods.IRS Publication 525IRS: Form 6251 instructions