RSUs and ESPP

Hi, My employer gives me shares thru' RSUs and ESPPs every quarter. Part of those shares are sold immediately and automatically by the broker (e-trade) to pay for taxes. All shares (RSUs and ESPPs) are visible on my payslips and I pay tax on them when they get sold and when there is any capital gain. During the "Taylor your return" (last question), do I need to answer YES and complete the capital gain section? Regards, Olavo

Hi Olavo Dinis Linhares Teixeira,

Yes you will.

Thank you.

Hi, I have a related question. I work for a UK subsidiary of a US company and during the tax year 2021/22 I had RSUs in the US parent that vested and also shares vesting under the US company’s ESPP. From my payslips I can see that my employer has deducted tax and NICs (both employer and employee) via the payroll. I have not sold any of the shares. The Employment Income figure in my P60 includes the amounts received for the shares. When I complete the Self-Assessment, what else am I required to include for these shares that have vested? Thank you

Hi,

As the income has already been included in your P60 and the tax paid, you dont need to show it anywhere else.

Thank you.

Hi, after the last response I'm very confused, as it looks like you are point us in different directions. In my case, my shares are also included in mt payslips and P60. Why do I need to complete the Capital Gain section if this has already been included on my P60 and tax has been paid?

Hi,

Please note that if the RSU and ESPP taxable amounts were shown on your payslips and included in your P60 (confirming that you paid the tax due) you do not have to complete the Capital Gains pages.

Thank you.

 

I have a related question. I acquired some shares through an ESSP scheme during 1995-1998 while working for a US subsidiary in the UK. I am now selling these shares and not sure if subject to capital gains tax. There seems to be lots of exemptions for certain employee incentive schemes and consideration for age of the holding in some cases but not sure if applies here. The sale will take me above £6k threshold and it’s so long ago I actually have no record of what I paid for them and the Uk subsidiary no longer exists. I contacted investor relations at parent company and they also have no record of me this far back. Any advice apppreciated.

When purchase the ESPP and cause the ESPP gains, can the employer ask the employee to bear the ER NIC due to this ESPP gain? If employee bears this ER NIC can this deduction deducted from the taxable income?

Hi Hazel Henery,

Due to the date purchased/received, it is likely that Capital Gains will apply as you have held on to them after they vested.
For a valuation from that period, please refer to Shares and assets valuations for tax

Thank you.

Hi Vincent Chen,

If an employer liability arises generally this would be paid by the employer.

Thank you.

Hi HMRC team, I have a couple of related questions. I have RSUs and ESPPs through my employer and pay income tax through payslips (part of the shares are sold automatically by the broker to pay tax). 1/ Is capital gain tax paid on fair market value at time of vesting for RSUs vs sold price (as opposed to acquisition cost £0 as RSU are part of employee scheme and taxed through PAYE)? 2/ Am I eligible for tax relief if I made a loss? if so, how can I do this? Many thanks for your help Many thanks

Hi Olavo Dinis Linhares Teixeira

As you have sold them immedialtey at vesting there is no gain to declare and no loss can be claimed.

Thank you

Hi, can you please help answer my questions? self-assessment deadline approaching fast. Many thanks

Hi HMRC team, hope you are well! For ESPP of an US company and traded on the NYSE, I paid tax on the fair market value at the time that it was made available to me, let's say $160 was the stock prices, and my "cost" was $100. I sold a little while after that and the share price at that time was lower than the initial fair market value (let's say now it is $150). As such, I paid the income tax on the $60 profit I made, but I actually realized $50 of profit. In this case, are there any taxes I could claim back? If so, how can I do this?

Hi Harley,

There is nothing in the UK, as these are US taxes and we cannot advise you on how US tax works.

Thank you.

Hi, If shares are sold immediately at vesting, whether they are RSU or ESPP, is it always the case that no gain or loss should be reported?

Hi, I'm also in the same situation with RSUs and ESPP sold via E-TRADE. I'm a bit confused about what to put on the self assessment. After downloading the Gains & Losses report for the tax year, how do you work out the amounts for the self assessment, which columns on the E-TRADE Gains & Losses report do you use? At the moment I'm summing up values with a Date Sold between April 6, 2022 and April 5, 2023 this way: - Disposal proceeds = Total Proceeds - Allowable costs (including purchase price) = Adjusted Cost Basis - Gains in the year, before losses = Adjusted Gain/Loss Is that correct?

Hi Nicki
If sold immediately, yes.
Thank you.

Hi Max McCarthy,
To confirm what you have done is correct.
Thank you. 
 

I also receive RSUs and ESPPs via e-Trade. However I'm a bit confused that HMRC Admin 25 is confirming that those columns from eTrade are correct. I thought that these RSUs and ESPPs (which are purchased on multiple separate occasions) would form a Section 104 holding and therefore the gains/loss per individual share entry as shown on the e-Trade "Gain and loss" information would not be the right values to use? Furthermore, the gains and losses shown on the e-Trade statement are in USD. Each time the shares are sold, the sale price would be need to be converted separately to GBP at the applicable exchange rate for the date of the sale. In that case, there are no figures that E-Trade provides that are suitable to be used directly as the allowable costs or gains in-year?