ESOP Companies More Likely to Use SARSs or Phantom Stock, HR 6419, and 409(p) SPL
The September 15, 2008 Employee Ownership Update is online and discusses the following:
New NCEO Survey Looks at Use of Equity Compensation Plans in Private Companies
Bill Would Provide Tax Exclusion for Employer Stock Held for 10 Years
IRS Publishes Sample 409(p) Language
The Update discusses a new NCEO survey that looked at the use of equity compensation plans:
We found that 67.5% of the non-ESOP companies used stock options, with 27.5% using restricted stock and 23.0% using stock appreciation rights or phantom stock. ESOP companies were much likely to rely on stock appreciation rights or phantom stock (56.9%), with 41.2% using options, and 26.1% using restricted stock.
It also discusses H.R. 6419: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income compensation received by employees consisting of qualified distributions of employer stock, which would exclude from gross income compensation received by employees consisting of qualified distributions of employer stock, and notes that the bill will likely face opposition because of the risk of holding employer stock for an extended period.
The Sample Plan Language (SPL) for IRC Section 409(p) Transfers and The ESOP Association Comments on the SPL are also discussed in the Update. The Update notes that the SPL should be considered sample language and not mandatory:
Other parts of the suggested plan language deal with the order of the transfers, taking shares first from those with the largest number of ESOP and deemed-owned shares. An IRS spokesman told BNA that the language was simply sample language that would automatically pass a compliance test; it did not preclude other approaches.