Maximize Your
Equity Compensation
Proactive tax saving strategies for tech professionals with ISOs, NSOs, RSUs, QSBS & 83(b) issues
Tech Professionals Trust Minnie Lau
The questions we help with
01.
Unsure you are exercising the right amount?
Confidently exercise the optimal number of shares while staying within your budget
02.
Are you using the right third party service to fund your stock options exercise?
Thinking about partnering with ESO, Equity Bee, or SecFi? Get an objective analysis to ensure you’re taking the best deal, regardless of any vendor preference
03.
Do you understand how much you’ll have after you sell?
Selling on Forge Global, EquityZen, Hiive , company tender, or IPO? Clearly understand your after-tax profits before you sell
04.
Don’t understand AMT and how it works?
Paying Alternative Minimum Tax? Partner with someone who can translate the complexities, guide you through payment, and unlock strategies to recover it quickly
05.
IPO coming but unsure if you've done everything you can?
Company going public? Make strategic moves to minimize taxes and maximize your upside with expert guidance
Who We Help
TECH PROFESSIONALS
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Understand your equity compensation package and what it means now and in the future
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Determine the value of your equity compensation – how much money are you leaving on the table if you don’t exercise today
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Structure a plan on RSU liquidation to meet your life goals
EARLY-STAGE START-UPS
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Determine what type of stock option plan is best for you and your employees
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Handle income tax filings so you can spend your time working on your business
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Minimize taxes by optimizing existing tax credits
TECH FOUNDERS
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Educate yourself on equity compensation to maximize value for yourself, your employees & your investors
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Plan for future liquidity events to maximize your windfall
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Optimize the value of your Qualified Small Business Stock
How We Help
01
LISTEN
This is where we ask a bunch of questions and do our fact-gathering. We want to know about your hopes and dreams along with your fears and constraints. Show us your equity plan and the other major financial pieces in your life.
02
ANALYZE
We review what you want and determine whether it’s achievable. If it is – we’ll see if we can do it even better. If it’s not, we give you the reality of what you can do so that you can make intelligent decisions with substance.
03
IMPLEMENT
We help put a plan together for you to follow. If external parties are involved, we will assist in coordinating them to put your master plan into action. We may bring in an estate planning attorney to structure vehicles to defer taxation on your stock. We’ll work with your wealth team to maximize your liquidity.
04
FOLLOW THROUGH
In addition to tax planning, we offer tax preparation services. AMT can be complicated – let us handle your taxes and keep track of your options.
Minnie takes existing information, makes sense of it, and quickly maps out a plan for us to move forward.
Stephanie I.
One of the few game-changing opportunities was working with Minnie. I’ve seen multiple experts - only Minnie provided timely planning with effective tax strategies.
M. F.
When I was offered our stock buy-out, Minnie really helped me and my wife with the details and tax planning. She is awesome to work with.
Jim + Kelly M.
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How does your tax planning pricing work?We tailor our pricing based on your needs. See all pricing information by clicking here.
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Can you work with my financial team?Absolutely! I regularly partner with your existing team to provide the best tax and stock option planning strategy. If you do not already have a financial advisor or team, I'm happy to refer you to several trusted partners.
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I don't need tax planning. Can you just file my tax returns?No. At this time we are only providing tax preparation services for clients who engage us for a tax planning package. We apologize for the inconvenience.
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What if I already have my own tax preparer or prepare my own?Marvelous! You do not need to break up with your tax preparer if you have one you love. We are able to work on your equity compensation planning and tax planning in harmony with your existing tax professional. For those who very much enjoy doing their own taxes (who doesn't?), one of the deliverables for our tax planning is a blueprint of what your projected taxes will look like. We support your choice to stay on Team TurboTax! Depending on your tax return complexity we may make a recommendation to outsource to a tax professional - but that professional does not need to be us! We usually recommend hiring a pro if you're dealing with multiple tax jurisdictions in a given year (like moving from one state to a different one) or exercising shares living in states with AMT (here's looking at you California, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, and Minnesota)
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How do you store my sensitive information?Securely! I use Canopy Tax for our sensitive client information. Canopy Tax is an IRS approved provider that meets all of the required cybersecurity measures. In addition to client file storage, it also provides a one-stop shop for document signing and communications.
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What if I actively trade in cryptocurrency?Cool, me too! I am happy to help with this as well since all of your income is relevant to stock options planning. Talk to me about this and I’ll be happy to provide guidance on this as well.
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I've been using my company's stock exercise calculator to determine how much I owe if I exercise my stock options. Am I harming myself by doing this?Possibly! Platforms like Carta and Shareworks have powerful tax forecasting tools built into their infrastructure. However, the information generated by these platforms can be one-dimensional, and the accuracy is 100% dependent on the information you input into their interface. If you've moved states or countries during your tenure with the company, your tax situation becomes more complicated since you're now vesting your equity compensation in multiple tax jurisdictions. Where you earn these stock options matters a lot. A small number of states (the largest being California) have Alternative Minimum Tax, which adds an additional layer of complexity. Understanding the mechanics of how this works and the ramifications you'll have if you decide to move after you exercise is really important for making an informed decision.
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I only have Restricted Stock Units and no stock options. Can you still help me?If you only have RSUs, we recommend you engage us with our bronze tax planning package. Please reference "How Does Your Tax Planning Pricing Work" for more details.
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I’m really bullish on my company’s stock. Should I buy some now before they IPO? I want to maximize my upside without getting fleeced by taxes.It depends! Those are excellent questions that require some projections to be run. Every client has different priorities. Many want to get a certain amount of liquidity out after taxes, others want to be tax efficient even if it means liquidity takes longer. Make an appointment so we can talk about what matters to you!
About Minnie Lau CPA PC
Minnie Lau CPA PC provides tax advisory to high-earning and high net worth individuals. Our clients include tech founders, early-stage tech start-ups and tech employees. We specialize in helping clients maximize the value of their equity compensation utilizing strategies from the tax code to minimize federal and state taxes.
