RSU Tax Calculator

On the vest date, the fair market value of the delivered shares counts as ordinary wage income. Your employer reports it on your W-2 and withholds federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and any state tax, just like a cash bonus. The taxable amount is the share count times the vest-date price per share.

RSU income is supplemental wages, so the IRS default withholding is a flat 22% up to $1,000,000 of supplemental wages in the year, and a mandatory 37% above that. The 22% is just withholding, not your final tax. If your marginal bracket is 32% or 35%, the flat rate under-withholds and you may owe the difference at filing. This calculator shows that gap.

Sell-to-cover means your broker automatically sells enough of the freshly vested shares to pay the total tax withholding, then you keep the rest. Because only whole shares can be sold, the sale usually raises slightly more than the exact tax, leaving a small residual cash amount. The calculator rounds the sold shares up and reports both the shares you keep and the leftover cash.

Social Security is withheld at 6.2% on wages up to the annual wage base ($184,500 for 2026), so if your year-to-date wages already passed the cap, no more is taken. Medicare is 1.45% on the full vest with no cap, plus an extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly). Enter your year-to-date wages so the cap and threshold apply correctly.

No. This tool covers only the ordinary income tax at vesting. If you hold the shares and sell later, any change in price between the vest date and the sale date is a separate capital gain or loss, taxed at short-term or long-term rates depending on how long you held them. Your cost basis is the vest-date price already taxed here.

It is an estimate, not financial or tax advice. It uses 2026 federal supplemental, Social Security, and Medicare rules and a flat state rate you enter, but it does not model your full return, deductions, credits, or local taxes. Use it to plan for withholding and sell-to-cover, and check with a tax professional before filing.