EY Stock Option Qualifier

How EY Stock Option Qualifier helps your organization

Designed to meet the organizational needs resulting from regulatory changes to the taxation of employee stock options. View EY Canada Tax Alert for more details:

• Proposed changes to taxation of employee stock options now law

Option Tracking & Tax Deduction Complexity

To determine which options are non-qualified, companies need to keep track of how much of the $200,000 limit the employee has already used for each year that a new option grant will vest.
Detailed tracking of options is essential to correctly withhold income tax at the time of exercise, report income on the applicable Form T4(s), Statement of Remuneration Paid and claim the corporate tax deduction that may be available.
The tracking exercise becomes more complicated in situations where employees receive multiple option grants over several years.
EY Stock Option Qualifier can support complete tracking, grant scheduling, and calculation needs.

Employee Notifications & Tax Reporting Liability

EY Stock Option Qualifier also assists companies in meeting employee reporting requirements. When a company grants a stock option that does not qualify for the 50% deduction, it is required to notify the employee in writing no later than 30 days after the day the stock option agreement is entered into.

Failure to notify the optionee within the prescribed time may result in the loss of a corporate deduction. The company must also report the issuance of non-qualified securities in a prescribed form with its tax return.