EQ tax planner goes viral
An EY‑style equity tax‑planning AI prompt circulated on social media, walking through RSU vest taxes, ISO/NSO timing, 83(b) considerations and diversification to manage concentration risk — and a CFP reiterated to treat RSUs as income at vest and sell to diversify. The posts are being shared as more engineers face larger, lumpy equity events and tighter CRA scrutiny. ( )
Two X posts hosting the AI “EQ tax‑planner” prompt are the source links now being reshared across X: (x.com) and (x.com). Observers compared the post’s structure to Big Four playbooks while EY itself has published guidance on prompt engineering for tax work in an article titled “The impact of prompt engineering in GenAI and tax.” (ey.com) Multiple certified financial planners and advisory firms restated the conventional advice that RSU value is recognized as ordinary income at vesting and frequently recommend selling at or soon after vest to reduce employer‑stock concentration risk, as argued in CFP®‑authored pieces and practice notes such as EquityFTW’s RSU guidance and Daniel Zajac, CFP’s review of selling vested RSUs. (equityftw.com) (zajacgrp.com) Canadian tax policy shifts have tightened the backdrop: legislation released June 10, 2024 reduced the employee stock option deduction and tied it to the increased capital gains inclusion rules that apply to amounts realized on or after June 25, 2024, according to Miller Thomson and BDO analysis. (millerthomson.com) (bdo.ca) The CRA’s payroll and security‑options guidance shows employers must report security‑option amounts on T4 slips and follow updated reporting instructions for 2024 T4 codes and line 24900, increasing the administrative visibility of option and RSU benefits. (canada.ca) Survey and market data underscore why engineers now face lumpier equity events: the NASPP/Deloitte survey reports full‑value awards like RSUs dominate public‑company grants and roughly 90% of public firms use performance‑based award features, while Carta’s equity resources continue to document RSUs as the default vehicle for employee grants. (naspp.com) (carta.com) Practical frictions highlighted by advisors include U.S. supplemental‑wage withholding defaults (the IRS percentage method at 22% for supplemental wages under $1 million in Publication 15) and common employer sell‑to‑cover practices that can leave recipients underwithheld against true marginal tax liability, issues mirrored in Canadian RSU withholding and reporting guidance. (irs.gov) (equityftw.com) Wealth and tax firms responding to the online thread are pointing engineers to specialized equity tools and calculators from providers such as Augustus Wealth and FullyVest to model vesting, AMT exposure, and concentration risk before large vesting events. (augustuswealth.com) (fullyvest.com)
