Sunday, March 7, 2021

How does esop work in india ?

Employee stock option is a profitable plan which is created in favour of employees in order to benefit them with maximum returns. In this plan, an employee enjoys the right to acquire the company’s share.

esop


Other Type of Incentives -

ESPP (Employee Stock Purchase Plan):

In this scheme, after a certain tenure/period of time, the company, offers its shares to its employees at a discounted price which is generally 10-15% less than the market price.

Stock Appreciation Rights:

In this scheme, the company offers its employees a compensation of an amount equal to the appreciation value of the share in a predetermined time

RSU (Restricted Stock Units):

In this scheme, the company offers its shares to their employee on the basis of their compensation letter but along with some restrictions and limits

Phantom Shares – Phantom stock is a form of long-term deferred compensation using the Company shares as the measuring device for calculating the value of the deferred compensation. It simulates the Company shares in everything except that does not represent true ownership.                  

RSA - Restricted Stock Award

 

 

Few Terminologies related to ESOP:

 

      Grant an option: This is an option where a company offers a right to its employee to buy the company’s shares.

      Grant Date: It is a date on which the employee receives the ESOP option

 

      Vesting Date:  It is a date on which the employee becomes entitled to exercise the options

 

      Vesting Period: The period between vesting date and Grant date.

 

      Exercise: Initially, the company offers a grant an option to its employees where an employee is free to convert its option into shares. This is known as Exercising the option

 

 

      Exercise price: This is the price at which the shares are offered to its employees. This price is usually less than the current market price. It is also known as Strike price.

 

      Exercise Period: This is the period where an employee gets a chance to exercise its share. This is known as Exercise period

 

      Fair Market Value: The market value of shares during its allotment period is known as Fair market value.

 

How can we calculate the tax on ESOPs?

There are two stages of tax calculation on the shares allotted as ESOPs:

1st Stage- When an employee exercises their options after the vesting period

2nd Stage- When the employees sell their allotted shares

 

 

Tax Implication after the option is exercised:

 

When the options are exercised under the ESOPs, then the tax is levied on the perquisite value (Perquisite value= FMV-Exercise Price).

If the shares get listed in India, then the value of the allotted shares are calculated on the basis of average price (average of highest and lowest price). If the shares are unlisted then FMV is calculated on the basis of the valuation certificate issued by the merchant banker and the valuation certificate should not be more than 180 days of the exercise date.

Even if the company is listed outside India, it has to take the valuation certificate from the merchant bank because the shares listed in abroad are treated as unlisted share for the ESOP purpose. 


Want to contact Planify for more information about ESOP

EMAIL-  help@planify.in  Call at -  +91-70-6556-0002


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