{"tool":{"slug":"rsu-tax","name":"RSU tax calculator","version":"2026-08-22","canonicalUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/rsu-tax","jsonUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/rsu-tax.json","pageUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/rsu-tax","parameters":[{"key":"vest","label":"Value vesting","unit":"usd","min":0,"max":100000000,"default":60000,"sourceId":null,"help":"Shares vesting times the share price on the vest date. That figure is ordinary wage income the day it vests, and it shows up in box 1 of your W-2 whether you sell anything or not."},{"key":"salary","label":"Salary","unit":"usd-per-year","min":0,"max":100000000,"default":180000,"sourceId":null,"help":"Your regular wages for the year, box 1 of the W-2 before the RSUs are added. The vest stacks on top of this, so your salary decides which rates the vest lands in."},{"key":"price","label":"Share price at vest","unit":"usd","min":0,"max":1000000,"default":50,"sourceId":null,"help":"The closing price on the vest date. Used only to turn dollars into a share count, so you can see how many shares sell-to-cover takes and how many more it should have taken."},{"key":"other","label":"Other wage income","unit":"usd-per-year","min":0,"max":100000000,"default":0,"sourceId":null,"help":"Anything else that lands on the same return as ordinary wages, most often a spouse's salary on a joint return. It raises the rates the vest is taxed at without changing what was withheld on the vest."},{"key":"priorSupplemental","label":"Supplemental wages already paid","unit":"usd","min":0,"max":100000000,"default":0,"sourceId":"irs-pub-15","help":"Bonuses and earlier vests your employer already paid you this calendar year. They count toward the $1,000,000 line, past which the withholding rate on the excess jumps to the top rate."}],"options":[{"key":"status","label":"Filing status","options":[{"value":"single","label":"Single"},{"value":"married-joint","label":"Married filing jointly"},{"value":"married-separate","label":"Married filing separately"},{"value":"head-of-household","label":"Head of household"},{"value":"qualifying-surviving-spouse","label":"Qualifying surviving spouse"}],"default":"single","sourceId":null,"help":"Your status on the last day of the year. Your employer withholds the same flat 22% on the vest no matter which one you file, so status changes what the vest costs without changing what was taken."}]},"taxYear":2025,"inputs":{"vest":60000,"salary":180000,"price":50,"other":0,"priorSupplemental":0,"status":"single"},"result":{"shares":1200,"taxOnVest":16556,"rateOnVest":27.59,"medicareOnVest":360,"withholding":{"underCap":60000,"overCap":0,"incomeTax":13200,"effectiveRate":22,"additionalMedicare":360,"shares":264},"shortfall":3356,"sharesShort":67.12,"medicareGap":0,"estimatedPayment":3356,"estimatedPaymentRequired":true,"taxWithoutVest":32267,"taxWithVest":48823,"totalTax":49183,"agi":240000,"standardDeduction":15750,"taxableIncome":224250,"marginalRate":32,"netVest":43444,"computability":{"status":"final","fileReady":true,"blocking":[]}},"estimatedTax":{"amount":3356,"required":true,"floor":1000,"toolPath":"/tools/estimated-taxes","toolUrl":"/tools/estimated-taxes?wages=240000&status=single","installments":[{"label":"First installment","date":"April 15, 2025"},{"label":"Second installment","date":"June 16, 2025"},{"label":"Third installment","date":"September 15, 2025"},{"label":"Fourth installment","date":"January 15, 2026"}]},"drivers":[{"key":"vest","label":"Value vesting","step":10000,"shortfallDelta":1000,"sentence":"Another $10,000 of vesting value adds $1,000 to the shortfall: $3,200 of tax against $2,200 of extra withholding."},{"key":"salary","label":"Salary","step":10000,"shortfallDelta":800,"sentence":"Earning $10,000 more salary adds $800 to the shortfall, because the vest stacks on top of a higher salary and lands in higher rates. Nothing about the withholding changes."}],"sensitivity":{"bySalary":[{"salary":90000,"taxOnVest":13812,"rateOnVest":23.02,"withheld":13200,"shortfall":612},{"salary":135000,"taxOnVest":14400,"rateOnVest":24,"withheld":13200,"shortfall":1200},{"salary":180000,"taxOnVest":16556,"rateOnVest":27.59,"withheld":13200,"shortfall":3356},{"salary":225000,"taxOnVest":19761.75,"rateOnVest":32.94,"withheld":13200,"shortfall":6561.75},{"salary":270000,"taxOnVest":21000,"rateOnVest":35,"withheld":13200,"shortfall":7800},{"salary":360000,"taxOnVest":21000,"rateOnVest":35,"withheld":13200,"shortfall":7800}],"byStatus":[{"status":"single","label":"Single","taxOnVest":16556,"shortfall":3356},{"status":"married-joint","label":"Married filing jointly","taxOnVest":13236,"shortfall":36},{"status":"married-separate","label":"Married filing separately","taxOnVest":16556,"shortfall":3356},{"status":"head-of-household","label":"Head of household","taxOnVest":15926,"shortfall":2726},{"status":"qualifying-surviving-spouse","label":"Qualifying surviving spouse","taxOnVest":13236,"shortfall":36}]},"assumptions":[{"key":"vest","label":"Value vesting","value":60000,"unit":"usd","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"salary","label":"Salary","value":180000,"unit":"usd-per-year","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"price","label":"Share price at vest","value":50,"unit":"usd","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"other","label":"Other wage income","value":0,"unit":"usd-per-year","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"priorSupplemental","label":"Supplemental wages already paid","value":0,"unit":"usd","provided":false,"source":{"id":"irs-pub-15","name":"IRS Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide, for use in 2025","url":"https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/p15--2025.pdf","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"Section 7 sets the flat 22% withholding on supplemental wages, in the words \"no other percentage allowed\", and sends supplemental wages above $1,000,000 for the year to a mandatory 37%. Section 15 sets the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax an employer withholds above $200,000 of wages."}},{"key":"status","label":"Filing status","value":"single","unit":"choice","provided":false,"source":null}],"sources":[{"id":"irs-pub-15","name":"IRS Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide, for use in 2025","url":"https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/p15--2025.pdf","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"Section 7 sets the flat 22% withholding on supplemental wages, in the words \"no other percentage allowed\", and sends supplemental wages above $1,000,000 for the year to a mandatory 37%. Section 15 sets the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax an employer withholds above $200,000 of wages."},{"id":"treas-reg-31-3402g-1","name":"Treas. Reg. § 31.3402(g)-1 (supplemental wage payments)","url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-31/subpart-E/section-31.3402(g)-1","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The regulation the flat rate comes from, including the rule that the mandatory top rate applies to the excess over $1,000,000 of supplemental wages, counted across the whole calendar year and across businesses under common control."},{"id":"irs-form-1040-es","name":"IRS Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals (2025)","url":"https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040es--2025.pdf","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The installment dates and the safe harbor: no estimated tax is required unless you expect to owe at least $1,000 after withholding, and payments of 90% of this year's tax, or 100% of last year's (110% if last year's AGI was over $150,000), avoid the penalty."},{"id":"usc-26-6654","name":"26 U.S.C. § 6654 (failure to pay estimated income tax)","url":"https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section6654","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The statute behind the underpayment penalty, its four installment dates, and the prior-year safe harbor the form describes."},{"id":"rev-proc-2024-40","name":"IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40 (2025 inflation-adjusted items)","url":"https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-24-40.pdf","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The rate tables, standard deduction, and credit amounts for tax year 2025, as published by the IRS. One of the three parameter authorities the engine reports for every computation."},{"id":"pl-119-21-obbba","name":"One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21)","url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-119publ21","asOf":"2025-07-04","note":"The statute that sets the current standard deduction and keeps the 37% top rate in place for 2025."},{"id":"usc-title-26","name":"26 U.S.C. (Internal Revenue Code)","url":"https://uscode.house.gov/browse/prelim@title26","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The code sections the calculation implements: § 1 rates, § 63 deduction, § 83 property transferred for services, § 3101(b)(2) Additional Medicare Tax."}],"warnings":[{"code":"under-withheld","message":"The vest costs $16,556 in federal income tax and $13,200 was withheld on it, leaving $3,356 for you to cover. Nobody sends you a bill for it. It shows up as a smaller refund or a larger balance due when you file."},{"code":"estimated-payment","message":"An estimated payment of $3,356 squares this vest with the IRS. Send it with the installment for the quarter the shares vested in, or increase withholding on your salary for the rest of the year, which the penalty rules treat as paid evenly across the year no matter when it happened."}],"disclaimer":"This computes federal income tax for tax year 2025 on an RSU vest treated as ordinary wages under the standard deduction, and compares it to the flat supplemental withholding an employer applies at vest. It leaves out state and local tax, Social Security and Medicare beyond the Additional Medicare Tax shown, any capital gain or loss on shares held past the vest date, and itemized deductions, so it is not your return and not tax advice. Check anything that matters against your own filing."}