RSU Tax Calculator
Estimate withholding at vest, the gap versus your actual tax rate, and capital gains if you hold the shares.
Your details
Withholding
22% up to $1M of supplemental wages, 37% above
Holding
This calculator runs entirely on your device. Nothing you enter is uploaded, stored, or sold. How this works
Total tax on this vest
$22,595
30.5% of the $74,000 vest value
Includes your inputs, the full breakdown, and every row of the table.
Under-withheld
$4,756
You may owe this at filing time
Net value after tax
$51,405
Shares withheld (approx.)
96
Marginal federal bracket
32%
- Vest value (ordinary income)
- $74,000
- Federal withheld at 22%
- $16,280
- Actual federal tax on the vest
- $21,036
- Medicare (1.45%)
- $1,073
- Additional Medicare (0.9%)
- $486
- Total tax due
- $22,595
- Capital gain if sold at $220.00
- $14,000
- Tax on the gain at 15%
- $2,100
What this means
- The default 22% supplemental rate under-withholds because your marginal bracket is 32%. Plan on setting aside roughly $4,756 or increasing withholding elsewhere.
- Your cost basis in the shares is the vest-date price. Brokers frequently report a $0 basis on Form 1099-B, which causes people to pay tax twice on the same income if they do not correct it.
- Social Security tax is not modeled here since most RSU recipients have already exceeded the wage base.
How the rsu tax calculation works
Restricted stock units are compensation, not an investment decision, until the moment they vest. On the vest date the full market value is ordinary W-2 income, taxed exactly like salary. Your employer typically covers the tax by withholding shares — a sell-to-cover — at the flat 22% federal supplemental rate.
That flat rate is where the trouble starts. If your marginal bracket is 32% or 35%, a 22% withholding leaves a gap that surfaces the following April. The gap grows with the size of the vest, and it is entirely predictable, which makes it easy to plan for and painful to ignore.
Frequently asked questions
Should I sell RSUs immediately at vest?
Selling immediately is tax-neutral, since your basis equals the vest price and there is no gain. Holding is an active decision to concentrate more of your net worth in your employer's stock, on top of the salary already tied to it.
Why did my broker report a $0 cost basis?
Regulations bar brokers from reporting the compensation portion of basis on covered securities. You must adjust the basis to the vest-date value on Form 8949, or you will pay tax a second time on income already on your W-2.
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Disclaimer. This calculator is provided for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, legal, medical, or engineering advice. Results are estimates based on the inputs you provide and the assumptions described above. Confirm any figure with a qualified professional before acting on it.