Do I have to report a non-qualified stock sale on my tax return?

October 10, 2011

Date:   17 May 2008
From:   Samir

I exercised non-qualified stock options. The net amount of income was shown on my Form W-2. Do I need to separately report the sale on my income tax return? H&R Block Tax Cut software says “no”?

Answer

Date:   4 Jun 2008

Hello Samir,

If you received a Form 1099-B from the brokerage company showing the sale of the shares, you should report it on Schedule D. The tax basis for the shares is the option price plus the income from the exercise, which should equal the fair market value of the shares on the date of exercise or vesting date, if later and you didn’t make a Section 83(b) election.

Good luck!

Mike Gray

For more information about non-qualified stock options, request our free report, “Executive Tax and Financial Planning For Non-Qualified Stock Options”.

Comments are closed.