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From the guide:

"RSUs are less attractive than options from a tax point of view because you cannot make an 83(b) election with respect to an RSU."

I'm fairly sure this is incorrect. Every other guide that I've read (just google RSUs 83b) says that you can file an 83B with RSUs and I've personally filed 83Bs with RSUs multiple times.




There's a difference between "restricted stock" and RSUs. The first means you get all the stock up front but it has a buyback provision that goes away over a vesting schedule. The second means actual shares are released over a vesting schedule. Only the first is relevant to 83b.

See for example http://www.investopedia.com/articles/tax/09/restricted-stock...


I am fairly sure that you are incorrect. There are no consequences to filing an 83B with RSUs - you can send it to the IRS, and you will get no response back; they will not send you a letter that says "you did wrong".

The question to ask in this case is: later in the life of your employment with the company, when settlement happened and you received stock in exchange for your RSUs, did you owe tax immediately on that stock? If you did, then you filing an 83B was meaningless.


I always get responses back saying that the 83B was accepted.




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