Equity Compensation · 21 min read
Meta RSUs: Vest Dates, Shrinking Refreshers and the Tax at Each Vest
Meta restricted stock units vest quarterly over four years, 1/16th at a time, on a cycle that runs February 15, May 15, August 15 and November 15, about two weeks before each quarter’s closed trading period begins. Each vest is taxed as wages that day, and Meta settles the withholding by keeping back shares: a flat 22% federal (37% only above $1 million of supplemental wages) plus California’s 10.23% and 1.3% SDI, which leaves a gap for anyone in a higher bracket. Refresher grants were reported about 10% smaller in 2025 and about 5% smaller in 2026, and vesting stops on the last day on payroll in a layoff.
Meta pays its people in one instrument above salary, and that instrument arrives on a fixed rhythm: sixteen quarterly vests per grant, on a February, May, August and November cycle, with a new refresher layered on each March. This guide sets out the vest calendar from Meta’s own filings, how it lines up with the closed trading periods in Meta’s insider trading policy, what the reported cuts to refreshers do to the next few years of vesting income, how each vest is taxed and withheld in 2026, and what changes in a layoff or a move to Texas. Tax figures are 2026 federal and 2025 California amounts; every dollar figure is a round hypothetical, and nothing here is a view on where META trades. Confirm your own numbers with a CPA or tax counsel.
When do Meta RSUs vest?
Quarterly, over four years, 1/16th of the grant at a time. Meta’s annual report describes its share-based compensation as restricted stock units and says that “in general, our RSUs vest over a service period of four years” (Meta 2025 Form 10-K, Share-based Compensation). The 2026 proxy statement is more specific: the RSUs granted to named executive officers “are subject to a four-year quarterly vesting schedule, with 1/16th of the RSUs vesting on the initial vesting date” and the remainder vesting quarterly thereafter, and its footnotes give the initial dates as May 15 for grants made in March and February 15 for others (Meta 2026 proxy statement, 2025 equity awards and footnotes). New director grants follow the same pattern, vesting “in 16 equal quarterly installments” over approximately four years. Continue either start date forward a quarter at a time and the cycle is February 15, May 15, August 15 and November 15.
Two cautions. First, the same proxy shows older executive grants that vested 1/20th a quarter from February 15, 2023 and 2024, a five-year schedule, so not every grant in circulation is on the four-year cadence; your grant agreement states the fraction and the dates that apply to you. Second, when the 15th falls on a weekend or a market holiday, the day the shares actually land in the plan account is set by the plan, not by the calendar. Check the account before you plan a sale around a specific day.
Meta files no employee stock purchase plan and its annual report mentions none, so Meta stock reaches employees only through RSUs. The refresher is what keeps the pipeline full. The proxy describes a “company-wide equity refresher program” and explains how the March 2025 awards were sized: the dollar value was divided by $701.32, “the average closing price for the seven trading days following the announcement of our earnings for the fourth quarter of 2024 and the same price that was used for 2025 refresher awards to all other employees,” with the first 1/16th vesting on May 15, 2025 (Meta 2026 proxy statement, 2025 equity awards). That pricing method matters to the household because a refresher is fixed in dollars, then converted to shares at a price the employee does not choose, so the number of shares in each March grant moves inversely with the stock in the week after fourth-quarter earnings.
How does the vest calendar line up with Meta’s closed trading periods?
Each vest lands about two weeks before that quarter’s trading window closes. Meta’s insider trading policy, filed as Exhibit 19.1 to its annual report, covers directors, officers and employees, the family members who live with them, and consultants and contractors, and it states the rule directly: “You may not trade in any security of Meta during the period beginning at market close on the last day of the middle month of any fiscal quarter of Meta and ending at market open on the second full trading day after the public release of earnings data for such fiscal quarter” (Meta Insider Trading Policy, Exhibit 19.1, Section III.B.1). Meta’s fiscal quarters follow the calendar, so the middle months are February, May, August and November: the vest months.
| Vest date | Fiscal quarter | Trading window closes | Trading window reopens | Room to sell after the vest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 15 | Q1 | Market close, February 28 (29 in a leap year) | Market open on the second full trading day after first-quarter earnings | About two weeks, then closed until after earnings |
| May 15 | Q2 | Market close, May 31 | Second full trading day after second-quarter earnings | About two weeks |
| August 15 | Q3 | Market close, August 31 | Second full trading day after third-quarter earnings | About two weeks |
| November 15 | Q4 | Market close, November 30 | Second full trading day after fourth-quarter earnings | About two weeks |
The policy’s own example shows how the reopening works: if earnings are announced on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 28, the closed period ends at market open on Friday, July 30, and the open window then runs through market close on August 31. It also adds that an open window is not a safe harbor; anyone holding material non-public information may not trade at any time, and the compliance officer can impose a Special Closed Trading Period without giving a reason.
The vest itself is not a trade. Section E of the policy says it does not apply to “the vesting or settlement of RSUs,” to Meta’s election “to withhold shares of stock to satisfy tax withholding requirements upon the vesting of any RSUs,” or to a sell-to-cover transaction the employee elected in an open window while free of inside information. It then closes the door that matters: the policy “does apply, however, to any sale of Meta shares that you actually receive upon vesting and settlement of your RSUs” (Meta Insider Trading Policy, Exhibit 19.1, Section III.E). In practice, a February 15 vest can settle inside or outside a window with no consequence, and the shares delivered can be sold only until February 28, or again after first-quarter earnings, or at any time under a Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted earlier.
Two further layers apply to some employees. Directors, Section 16 officers and “certain other designated employees” are Restricted Persons on a Pre-Clear List; they must pre-clear every trade and then execute it “within five (5) trading days after the day you receive such approval, but in no event after the commencement of a Closed Trading Period.” A narrower group, the 10b5-1 Designated Persons, must trade only through a 10b5-1 plan. Under Meta’s separate 10b5-1 policy, Exhibit 19.2, a plan may be adopted or changed only outside a closed period and without inside information, an employee’s plan cannot start trading until “at least ninety (90) days have elapsed” from signing, and “a 10b5-1 plan cannot have a duration longer than two years” (Meta 10b5-1 Trading Plan Policy, Exhibit 19.2). Our guide to Rule 10b5-1 plans for employees covers the federal rule that sits underneath.
What do smaller refreshers do to next year’s vesting income?
They lower it slowly, because four grants overlap at any time. In February 2026 the Financial Times reported, in a story carried by Reuters and other outlets, that most Meta employees would receive about 5% less equity in their 2026 refreshers, after a cut of about 10% in 2025, with the exact reduction depending on the role (The Irish Times, February 20, 2026, citing the Financial Times). Meta has not published refresher sizes, so treat those percentages as reported rather than confirmed, and read your own grant letter for the figure that applies to you. The mechanism, though, is arithmetic, and the illustration below shows it.
Hypothetical illustration, in round numbers. An employee received a $200,000 refresher each March from 2021 through 2024, then $180,000 in March 2025 (10% smaller) and $170,000 in March 2026 and each March after (about 5% smaller again). Each refresher vests 1/16th on May 15 of the grant year and 1/16th each quarter after that, as the proxy describes, so a grant pays three vests in its first calendar year, four in each of the next three, and one final vest in the fifth. Figures are grant-date values with the share price held constant, to isolate the refresher effect; a real account moves with the stock, and grant sizes vary by level and rating. Not a projection of anyone’s pay.
| Year | Grants vesting during the year | Vesting income | Versus the $200,000 steady state |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2021 (final vest), 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 (first three vests) | $196,250 | −1.9% |
| 2026 | 2022 (final), 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 (first three) | $189,375 | −5.3% |
| 2027 | 2023 (final), 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027 (first three) | $181,875 | −9.1% |
| 2028 | 2024 (final), 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028 (first three) | $174,375 | −12.8% |
| 2029 | 2025 (final), 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029 (first three) | $170,625 | −14.7% |
| 2030 | 2026 (final), 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030 (first three) | $170,000 | −15.0% |
The 2026 total arrives in four unequal pieces. The February 15 vest is $48,750, because it still carries the last tranche of the 2022 grant, and the May, August and November vests are $46,875 each, because the smaller 2026 refresher has replaced it. A household that budgets on the 2024 figure does not feel the full 15% until 2030, which is the argument for re-running the pipeline every March when the new grant letter arrives, and for setting the budget to the smaller number.
How is each Meta vest taxed, and what is withheld?
As wages, on the value of the shares the day they vest, whether you keep them or sell. Restricted property received for services is included in income when it is substantially vested, and that amount is reported on the W-2 as compensation (IRS Publication 525, Restricted Property). Meta settles the withholding by keeping back shares. Its 2025 cash flow statement records “$18.40 billion of taxes paid related to net share settlement of employee restricted stock unit (RSU) awards,” and its statement of stockholders’ equity carries a line for “shares withheld related to net share settlement” (Meta 2025 Form 10-K, Cash Used in Financing Activities and Statement of Stockholders’ Equity). In other words, Meta withholds a portion of the vesting shares, pays the tax authorities in cash, and delivers the rest; the insider trading policy also contemplates a sell-to-cover election, so your plan account shows which method applies to you. The filings describe the mechanism; the rates come from payroll law.
Federal income tax withholding on a vest follows the supplemental-wage rules: a flat 22%, rising to a mandatory 37% only once an employee’s supplemental wages from the employer pass $1,000,000 in the calendar year (IRS Publication 15 (2026), sections 7 and 9). Social Security tax of 6.2% applies until wages reach the 2026 wage base of $184,500, Medicare tax of 1.45% applies to every dollar, and the employer must add the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000 from that employer. California withholds on “bonuses and stock options” at a flat 10.23% when they are paid separately from regular wages (EDD, California Employer’s Guide DE 44 (2026), supplemental wages), and its State Disability Insurance contribution is 1.3% in 2026 with no wage ceiling, so it reaches every vested dollar (EDD, 2026 rates and withholding). On a 100-share vest at an illustrative $500 a share, those rates add to roughly 35% to 36% of the value, so about 35 or 36 shares are withheld and 64 or 65 delivered, depending on whether the Additional Medicare Tax has started to apply.
The gap opens because 22% is a withholding rate, not a tax rate. For 2026 a married couple filing jointly reaches the 32% bracket above $403,550 of taxable income, 35% above $512,450 and 37% above $768,700; a single filer reaches 32% above $201,775, 35% above $256,225 and 37% above $640,600 (IRS, tax year 2026 inflation adjustments (Rev. Proc. 2025-32)). Every vested dollar lands on top of salary and bonus, so a household already in the 35% bracket owes 35 cents on each vested dollar and has 22 withheld. California’s 10.23% is closer to the mark: on 2025 returns the joint rate is 9.3% from $145,448 of taxable income, 10.3% above $742,958, 11.3% above $891,542 and 12.3% above $1,485,906, and for a single filer 9.3% from $72,724, 10.3% above $371,479, 11.3% above $445,771 and 12.3% above $742,953 (FTB, 2025 California tax rate schedules), plus an additional 1% on taxable income above $1,000,000 (Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code §17043). For a household in the 9.3% band the state actually over-withholds a little; at the top it is short by two to three points.
Hypothetical illustration: the May 15, 2026 vest of $46,875 from the table above, for two California households. Household A is a married couple filing jointly with $450,000 of other taxable income, which keeps their vests in the federal 35% bracket and California’s 9.3% band. Household B is a single filer with $800,000 of other taxable income, in the federal 37% bracket and California’s 12.3% band. Both work for Meta in Menlo Park. Amounts are rounded to the cent and ignore the standard deduction, payroll taxes on the vest, and any other adjustments.
| May 15 vest, hypothetical | Household A (joint, 35% and 9.3%) | Household B (single, 37% and 12.3%) |
|---|---|---|
| Value of the vest, taxed as wages | $46,875.00 | $46,875.00 |
| Federal withheld at 22% | $10,312.50 | $10,312.50 |
| Federal tax at the household’s bracket | $16,406.25 | $17,343.75 |
| Federal shortfall on this vest | $6,093.75 | $7,031.25 |
| California withheld at 10.23% | $4,795.31 | $4,795.31 |
| California tax at the household’s bracket | $4,359.38 | $5,765.63 |
| California shortfall (negative means over-withheld) | −$435.94 | $970.31 |
| SDI at 1.3%, withheld in full | $609.38 | $609.38 |
| Net shortfall on this vest | $5,657.81 | $8,001.56 |
| Net shortfall across 2026’s four vests ($189,375) | About $22,858 | About $32,326 |
Neither household is doing anything wrong; the flat rate is doing what the regulation says. What matters is closing the gap before it becomes a penalty. The underpayment rules are met when withholding and timely estimated payments reach 90% of the current year’s tax or 100% of last year’s, 110% if last year’s adjusted gross income exceeded $150,000 (26 U.S.C. §6654). The two levers are extra withholding on the regular paycheck, which the IRS treats as paid evenly through the year, and an estimated payment after each vest. Our guide to RSU withholding and why 22% falls short works through the safe harbors, the W-4 mechanics and California’s own estimated-payment rules.
What is my basis in Meta shares, and why can the 1099-B be wrong?
Your basis in each delivered share is its value on the vest date, the same amount that went through the W-2. The regulations treat property transferred as compensation as if it were purchased for the amount included in income (Treas. Reg. §1.61-2(d)(2)(i)), and the holding period begins when the shares vest (IRS Publication 525, Restricted Property). Every later move in the price is a capital gain or loss measured from that vest-date value, which has a practical consequence for Meta employees: sixteen vests per grant, four grants overlapping, means a plan account accumulates up to sixteen new tax lots a year, each with its own basis and its own one-year clock.
The trap appears at sale. The broker’s Form 1099-B may report a basis that leaves out the compensation already taxed, or none at all, which would tax the same dollars twice if copied onto the return. The Form 8949 instructions handle this: enter the broker’s basis in column (e) as reported, then correct it with an adjustment in column (g) and code B in column (f), and the instructions say plainly that basis reported for compensatory equity may not reflect the amount included in income (IRS Instructions for Form 8949, column (g) and code B). Because Meta withholds shares rather than selling them, there is usually no 1099-B for the vest itself; the first 1099-B arrives when you sell delivered shares, and the vest confirmation from the plan is the document that proves the basis. Keep every one.
Sell at vest or hold: how to frame the decision
The tax on the vest is settled either way, so keeping the shares is economically the same as buying META with after-tax cash that day. That reframing is the whole decision: not “should I sell my RSUs?” but “would I buy this much Meta stock today, on top of what I already hold and the unvested grants still coming?” Some households answer yes for reasons they can state. Many adopt a written rule instead, for example selling a fixed share of every vest, or selling whatever exceeds a ceiling on Meta as a percentage of net worth, so the decision is not remade every February. None of this is a recommendation about META; it is a way of making the decision once.
Holding changes the tax on the next leg. A sale within a year of the vest is a short-term gain or loss at ordinary rates; a sale after a year qualifies for the long-term rates, which for 2026 are 15% up to $613,700 of taxable income for a joint return and $545,500 for a single filer, and 20% above (Rev. Proc. 2025-32, maximum 15% rate amounts), plus the 3.8% net investment income tax where modified adjusted gross income exceeds $250,000 joint or $200,000 single (26 U.S.C. §1411). California draws no distinction: “California does not have a lower rate for capital gains. All capital gains are taxed as ordinary income” (FTB, capital gains and losses). A California resident who holds vested shares for the long-term rate saves federal tax on the gain and nothing at the state level.
Meta’s policy narrows the toolkit. Section E bars hedging of any kind, naming “puts, calls, collars, forward sale contracts, equity swaps, exchange funds, or other arrangements or instruments designed to hedge or offset decreases in the market value of Meta securities,” and Section D bars holding the shares in margin accounts or pledging them for a loan, except in limited circumstances approved by the board committee (Meta Insider Trading Policy, Exhibit 19.1, Sections III.D and III.E). For a current employee, then, diversification means selling, and selling means an open window or a 10b5-1 plan. Given the two-week gap between each vest and the window closing, a rule that is meant to be executed every quarter is often written into a plan: signed in an open window, waiting out Meta’s 90-day cooling-off period, and running for up to two years. Our guide to diversifying concentrated stock covers the tools that reopen after departure, with their costs and eligibility limits.
What happens to Meta RSUs in a layoff?
Vesting stops on the last day on payroll. Meta’s annual report describes its U.S. severance as including “severance payments, payment for all remaining paid time off, and restricted stock unit vesting through their last day on payroll, as well as certain continuing coverage of the cost of healthcare” (Meta 2025 Form 10-K, Human Capital). Tranches dated after that day are not part of that description. Your separation agreement governs, so read it for the last day on payroll before anything else, then count the vest dates that fall inside the paid period.
The timing matters more at Meta than at a company with annual vesting, because the calendar is so regular. In the hypothetical above, an employee whose last day on payroll is March 31, 2026 receives the February 15 vest of $48,750 and not the May, August and November vests of $46,875 each: $140,625 of vesting income the year’s budget may have assumed. Severance is itself a supplemental wage, withheld at the same flat rates as a vest, so a large severance payment in a high-bracket year carries the same shortfall. Meta has reduced its workforce more than once recently, including notices to about 8,000 employees in May 2026, as reported by NPR (NPR, May 20, 2026); the planning response is a cash reserve measured in months and a household budget that runs on salary alone, with RSU income treated as variable pay. One question to ask before the last day: how the insider trading policy and any open 10b5-1 plan apply to the shares you already hold once you have left, since the policy’s text is written for current employees and contractors.
If I move from Menlo Park to Texas, what does California still tax?
The California share of every vest that was already in progress when you left. The Franchise Tax Board’s equity compensation guidelines say that for a nonresident on the vesting date, “California will tax the wage income to the extent services were performed in California from the grant date to the vesting date” (FTB Publication 1004, Equity-Based Compensation Guidelines), and the extent is measured by workdays. Because Meta grants vest over four years, a move mid-grant leaves a California tail on each remaining tranche that shrinks as the grant ages. A refresher granted in March 2026 to someone who moves to Austin in March 2027 would be roughly 60% California-source on its November 2027 vest, twelve of twenty months, and roughly a quarter California-source on its final vest in February 2030, twelve of forty-seven months, with each year’s new Texas grants carrying no California share at all.
Gains on a later sale by a genuine nonresident are not California’s, and Texas levies no personal income tax; its constitution bars the legislature from enacting one (Tex. Const. art. 8, §24-a). Residency is judged on where your closest connections are, which is why the move needs a file behind it. Our guide to moving from California to Texas before a liquidity event covers the residency tests and the sourcing rules for each equity type, and our Austin planning page covers the Texas side.
How we approach Meta RSUs in a plan
We start with an equity map: every open grant, its fraction and dates, the tranches left, and the March refreshers still to come, laid against the four closed periods. The map shows the household its own version of the tables above, including what a smaller refresher does to 2028 and what a notice in March would cost. That is the base for the work we describe on equity compensation and concentrated stock and for executives and employees with equity.
Then the rules. A written sell rule for each vest, sized against how much Meta the household holds and what the next four years deliver; a 10b5-1 plan where the calendar makes the rule hard to execute by hand; a withholding true-up after each vest, sized to the safe harbor rather than to April; and a cash reserve that assumes RSU income can stop. The tax pieces connect to our tax planning work and, when a large block is sold, to planning capital gains after a liquidity event. Charitable gifts of long-term shares and any move out of California are coordinated with the household’s CPA.
Questions worth answering before the next vest date
- What fraction and dates does each of my grant agreements state, and does any grant vest on a schedule other than 1/16th a quarter?
- Which of my open grants finish vesting this year, and what does the February vest look like compared with May, August and November?
- What did this March’s refresher letter say, and what does that do to vesting income in 2027 and 2028?
- Does my plan account withhold shares or sell to cover, and at what combined rate?
- What is my marginal federal and California bracket on the vested dollars, and how large is the gap after four vests?
- Have I set extra paycheck withholding or a quarterly estimate that meets the safe harbor?
- Am I on the Pre-Clear List, and if so, who confirms an open window in writing?
- Would a 10b5-1 plan let my sell rule run through the closed periods, and does the 90-day wait line up with the vest I care about?
- How many months of a salary-only budget does the cash reserve cover?
- If a move to Texas is on the table, which grants would still carry a California share, and for how long?
What this does not mean
A vest date is not a signal. Nothing here suggests selling, holding or buying META on any date, and the calendar describes when the policy permits a trade, not whether one is wise for a given household. We do not forecast the stock, and the round prices in the illustrations were chosen for arithmetic, not because they mean anything.
The refresher percentages are press reports, not Meta statements, and grant sizes differ by level, role and rating. The policy exhibits are the versions Meta incorporated into its most recent annual report and can be amended; earnings dates move; and the severance description is a general one that your own agreement may differ from. Tax figures reflect 2026 federal and 2025 California law as published; your return depends on facts we have not seen, so confirm them with a CPA or tax counsel.
Frequently asked questions
When do Meta RSUs vest?
Quarterly over four years, 1/16th of the grant at each vest. Meta’s 2026 proxy statement describes a four-year quarterly schedule with initial vest dates of February 15 or May 15, which puts the cycle on February 15, May 15, August 15 and November 15. Some older grants in the proxy vest 1/20th a quarter over five years, so read your own grant agreement for the fraction and dates that apply to you.
Does Meta withhold shares for taxes when RSUs vest?
Meta’s annual report records taxes paid related to net share settlement of RSU awards and shares withheld for that purpose, so the standard mechanism is that a portion of each vest’s shares is kept back and the rest delivered. Federal withholding on a vest is a flat 22% (37% once supplemental wages pass $1 million in a year), California withholds 10.23% plus 1.3% SDI, and Medicare applies as well. For a household in a bracket above 22%, that leaves a federal shortfall to cover with extra withholding or an estimated payment.
Are Meta refresher grants getting smaller?
The Financial Times reported in February 2026 that most Meta employees would receive about 5% less equity in their 2026 refreshers, after a reduction of about 10% in 2025, with the exact change depending on the role. Meta describes a company-wide equity refresher program in its proxy statement but does not publish grant sizes, so your grant letter is the only reliable figure. Because four grants overlap, a smaller refresher lowers vesting income gradually over about four years.
Can I sell Meta RSUs as soon as they vest?
Only while the trading window is open. Meta’s insider trading policy closes trading from market close on the last day of February, May, August and November until the second full trading day after that quarter’s earnings, so each mid-month vest leaves about two weeks to sell. The vest and Meta’s share withholding are outside the policy, but any sale of the shares you receive is inside it. Employees on the Pre-Clear List must also pre-clear and trade within five trading days of approval, and a Rule 10b5-1 plan can sell through closed periods once its 90-day wait has passed.
What happens to my unvested Meta RSUs if I am laid off?
Meta’s annual report describes its U.S. severance as including RSU vesting through the last day on payroll, alongside severance pay, unused paid time off and continued healthcare coverage. Tranches dated after the last day on payroll are not part of that description. Your separation agreement governs, so read it before signing and note which of the quarterly vest dates fall inside the paid period.
If I move from California to Texas, does California still tax my Meta RSUs?
Partly. Under FTB Publication 1004, California taxes the wage income from a vest to the extent you worked in California between the grant date and the vesting date, so grants that were open when you moved carry a California share until they finish vesting. Grants made after you become a Texas resident, and gains on later sales by a genuine nonresident, are not California-source, and Texas has no personal income tax.
Sources and further reading
- Meta Platforms, Inc., Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025: Human Capital (headcount, severance), Share-based Compensation (four-year service period), Cash Used in Financing Activities and Statement of Stockholders' Equity (net share settlement)
- Meta Platforms, Inc., 2026 Definitive Proxy Statement (DEF 14A), filed April 16, 2026: 2025 equity awards, quarterly vesting footnotes, refresher pricing, director compensation
- Meta Platforms, Inc., Insider Trading Policy, Exhibit 19.1 to the Form 10-K for 2024: Regular and Special Closed Trading Periods, pre-clearance, margin and pledging, hedging, company incentive plans
- Meta Platforms, Inc., 10b5-1 Trading Plan Policy, Exhibit 19.2 to the Form 10-K for 2024: cooling-off periods, adoption windows, two-year maximum duration
- IRS Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide (2026): section 7, supplemental wages; section 9, Social Security and Medicare rates and the 2026 wage base
- IRS Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income: Restricted Property, inclusion at vesting, basis and holding period
- IRS, tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, including amendments from the One Big Beautiful Bill (Rev. Proc. 2025-32): 2026 marginal rate thresholds
- Rev. Proc. 2025-32: 2026 maximum zero rate and maximum 15% rate amounts for capital gains
- IRS Instructions for Form 8949: columns (e), (f) and (g), code B, and basis of compensatory equity
- Treas. Reg. 1.61-2(d)(2)(i), basis of property transferred as compensation
- 26 U.S.C. 1411, net investment income tax
- 26 U.S.C. 6654, estimated tax safe harbors and installment dates
- California EDD, California Employer's Guide DE 44 Rev. 52 (4-26): supplemental wage withholding, 10.23% on bonuses and stock options
- California EDD, 2026 rates and withholding: SDI 1.3%, no taxable wage limit
- California FTB, 2025 California tax rate schedules (Schedules X and Y)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 17043, additional 1% tax on taxable income over $1,000,000
- California FTB, capital gains and losses
- California FTB Publication 1004, Equity-Based Compensation Guidelines: restricted stock units, nonresident sourcing from grant to vest
- Texas Constitution, Article 8, Section 24-a
- The Irish Times, February 20, 2026, Meta cuts staff stock awards for a second straight year (citing the Financial Times)
- U.S. News, February 19, 2026, Meta cuts stock awards by 5% for most employees, FT reports (Reuters)
- NPR, May 20, 2026, Meta layoffs
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