Treasury Removes a Reporting Trap for Section 83(b) Elections

Taxpayers who receive property as payment for performing services are generally taxable on the value of the property received in the year of receipt. Section 83 may allow such taxation to be deferred when the property received is subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture (e.g., an employee is issued stock, but will forfeit it if he quits or is fired) until the risk of forfeiture is removed.

Such a delay can hurt the employee, since the value of the property may increase before the risk of forfeiture is removed – the employee is required to include the value of property in income based on the value at the time such forfeiture risk goes away.

Section 83(b) provides relief to the employee – …