Taxation of employee shares & rights/options - consultation paper

The Government released last Friday afternoon its revised proposal for the taxation of employee shares, options & rights. The Government has conceded a number of key stakeholder complaints – significantly, there will not be taxation before vesting. But the revised proposal will still very significantly restrict the way that many plans have been operating in Australia. Deferral of tax on fully vested benefits has been a mainstay of long term employee share ownership in the past. It is now to be scrapped, as initially proposed by the budget announcement. The start date has been delayed briefly until 1 July 2009, and further submissions are due by this coming Friday, 12 June. For our full Tax Brief - click here