Thanks. I agree. This is where I'm having troubles. Everyone I'm finding doesn't isn't inspiring confidence in their ability to handle startup taxes well.
I'll talk to an accountant about w-8 ben but my current understanding it that it's not feasible in our case. Perhaps because there's no immediate payment being made out.
Also, in our case, the problem will exist only if the beneficiary happens to be in the US at the time of these options vesting and liquidating due to a company sale/IPO. At that point, they can't make an 83b election so will end up paying much higher taxes.
In your case, it was possible because of the two conditions given below. Thats not true in our case.
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At one point, anyone on visas other than business/visitor could file for SSN or a Tax ID. That's no longer possible unless: 1) You are in the US on a legitimate Visa that allows you to work & 2) You have an offer letter for paid employment.
Now students on F1 visa (who are allowed to work part time on campus) can't get SSN unless they pick up a job and have a letter to prove it. Earlier they could.
> 83b elections only become a problem for people where you grant them actual shares which they vest in over time which is only common for founders.
All equity we are planning to issue has a vesting schedule attached. My understanding is that it's uncommon it issue equity that doesn't have a vesting schedule attached and it's true for all employees and not just founders. Vesting is indeed at the core of this problem.
Regarding the board setting the strike price -> Someone on the board 'must have some reasonable experience' setting the strike price for it to be reasonable for IRS to believe. I'm the only one on the board so far so unfortunately for us, we don't have anyone with this experience.
Although, in our case, the receivers of the equity are individual salaried employees of our company, not sole proprietors. However, this seems like worth exploring so I'll take it up with a tax consultant.
At one point, anyone on visas other than business/visitor could file for SSN or a Tax ID. That's no longer possible unless:
1) You are in the US on a legitimate Visa that allows you to work &
2) You have an offer letter for paid employment.
Now students on F1 visa (who are allowed to work part time on campus) can't get SSN unless they pick up a job and have a letter to prove it. Earlier they could.
Another way to look at it is if Apple ever moved away from its core, that is, making products that are a perfect blend of form + function combined with their awesome customer support, then certainly that would be the start of their decline.
Another action that personally upset me, me being a fanboy, is their publisher subscription model of taking 30%. That doesn't seem to be in the best interest of their users.
I would still love a lawyer recommendation to finish sale of assets from one company to the new one. Any recommendations are helpful.