Browse topics

Restricted stock and RSAs

The actual shares founders and early employees receive, usually with an 83(b) election. How restricted stock awards (RSAs) differ from RSUs, and the early move that can save the most tax.

Rules & mechanics

How the grant actually works, step by step.

Guide Start here

Restricted stock awards (RSAs): the complete guide

An RSA is real stock you own at grant, on a vesting schedule, common at the earliest startups. That ownership from day one is what makes the 83(b) election possible, why founders reverse-vest, and what decides who keeps shares when someone leaves.

Explainer

RSAs vs RSUs: the differences that actually matter

An RSA is real stock you own at grant; an RSU is a promise of stock later. That one distinction decides whether you can file an 83(b), when you owe tax, and whether you vote your shares from day one.

Explainer

Profits interests vs equity at an LLC

The startup-equity cousin that works very differently for tax. A profits interest can be worth zero today and still hand you real upside later.

Taxation

What is taxed, and when, from grant to vest to exercise to sale.

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How restricted stock is taxed (and how 83(b) flips it)

Restricted stock is taxed as ordinary income as it vests, unless you file an 83(b) and flip the whole thing to capital gains. That one form is the difference between a tax bill on tomorrow's value and one on today's, and it quietly starts the clocks that decide your rate years later.

Strategies

The decisions and frameworks that move the most money.

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Should you file an 83(b) election? The decision and the breakeven

For early-stage stock worth almost nothing, filing the 83(b) is close to a no-brainer. It only gets hard once the shares carry real value and the tax you prepay stops being a rounding error. The breakeven is the price where prepaying finally beats waiting.

Explainer

Restricted stock in an acquisition

When your company gets bought, your restricted stock can cash out, convert to acquirer shares, or roll into new vesting. Which one you get, and whether your unvested shares accelerate, decides what the deal actually pays you.

Update

2026 update on filing the 83(b) election

The current filing and proof rules for an 83(b) election, including the IRS's official Form 15620. The 30-day clock has not budged.

Pitfalls

The mistakes and surprises that cost people the most.

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Missing the 30-day 83(b) deadline (and skipping it on purpose)

The 83(b) election has a hard 30-day window and no late forgiveness. Miss it, or skip it, on early-stage stock and you can hand the IRS a tax bill that grows every year the company does well, on shares you cannot sell to pay it.

Forms & reporting

The tax forms, the reporting, and worked examples.

Checklist Start here

How to file an 83(b) election, step by step

The letter, the 30-day clock, the line-by-line fields, and the proof you keep, in one checklist. Filing 83(b) is simple, but it is unforgiving, so the order of operations matters.

Case studies

Illustrative scenarios, start to finish.

Case study Start here

A founder's restricted stock, start to exit

Follow one founder's restricted stock from incorporation to acquisition, and watch how a single form filed in week one decides what the exit actually pays. The tax fork happens at the beginning, not the end.

Case study

Case study: the missed 83(b) that cost six figures

An early hire skipped the form, then vested into a unicorn valuation. The tax bill arrived years before any chance to sell.