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Qualified Small-Business Stock rule helps Silicon Valley workers save millions

nytimes.com

1–10 of 69 posts

Re: Qualified Small-Business Stock rule helps Silicon Valley workers save millions

#2
It's not a loophole, it's a specific tax break for people cashing out of "small" businesses. ("small" means at the time you joined -- it can have grown huge since.)

QSBS can save you a lot, but it can be a lot of work to file too. I ran up about $20k in accountant bills doing it on a complex deal.

If you're selling founder or early-employee stock, ask your accountant if QSBS is right for you.

Re: Qualified Small-Business Stock rule helps Silicon Valley workers save millions

#3
post #2

It's not a loophole, it's a specific tax break for people cashing out of "small" businesses. ("small" means at the time you joined -- it can have grown huge since.) QSBS can save you a lot, but it can be a lot of work to file too. I ran up about $20k in accountant bills doing it on a complex deal. If you're selling founder or early-employee stock, ask your accountant if QSBS is right for you.

Seriously... not a loophole. Explicit tax rule. Just making it look like people are somehow taking advantage of the system. FUD.

Re: Qualified Small-Business Stock rule helps Silicon Valley workers save millions

#5
post #2

It's not a loophole, it's a specific tax break for people cashing out of "small" businesses. ("small" means at the time you joined -- it can have grown huge since.) QSBS can save you a lot, but it can be a lot of work to file too. I ran up about $20k in accountant bills doing it on a complex deal. If you're selling founder or early-employee stock, ask your accountant if QSBS is right for you.

Ok, we've replaced 'loophole' with the name of the thing above.

Re: Qualified Small-Business Stock rule helps Silicon Valley workers save millions

#8
post #6

How early of an employee would you need to be?

When you join the company needs to be valued less than $50 million (by the article), the price of the actual stock doesn't matter.

Thank you, this is very helpful for me.

Re: Qualified Small-Business Stock rule helps Silicon Valley workers save millions

#9
post #2

It's not a loophole, it's a specific tax break for people cashing out of "small" businesses. ("small" means at the time you joined -- it can have grown huge since.) QSBS can save you a lot, but it can be a lot of work to file too. I ran up about $20k in accountant bills doing it on a complex deal. If you're selling founder or early-employee stock, ask your accountant if QSBS is right for you.

Loophole doesn’t have a strict definition. Almost any deduction could be a loophole. Usually it is referring to anything that helps people with high incomes avoid paying taxes.

Re: Qualified Small-Business Stock rule helps Silicon Valley workers save millions

#10
post #2

It's not a loophole, it's a specific tax break for people cashing out of "small" businesses. ("small" means at the time you joined -- it can have grown huge since.) QSBS can save you a lot, but it can be a lot of work to file too. I ran up about $20k in accountant bills doing it on a complex deal. If you're selling founder or early-employee stock, ask your accountant if QSBS is right for you.

It does seem like taking the piss for a multimillion dollar startup to qualify as a "small business". Just because you're staying within the letter of the law doesn't mean it's not a loophole -- arguably that's exactly what a loophole is.

According to the article, professional accountants consider this scheme dubious.

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