Service 06 / 07 · Equity

Employee Share Scheme Tax
for Australian Expats

RSUs, options and ESS interests are where global employees lose the most money, and often don't even know it. Cross-border vesting, residency-change timing and double taxation can quietly destroy a decade of equity upside.

Book an ESS consultation See what we cover

§ 01

Who this is for.

Equity compensation is the most valuable and most mishandled part of many expat pay packets. The Australian ESS rules, the timing of vesting, and the residency you hold when each tranche lands all interact, and they interact with the tax system of wherever you happen to be working. The difference between a planned outcome and an accidental one runs into hundreds of thousands of dollars over a career.

This service is for employees and executives with RSUs, options or other equity who are moving across borders, or who already are - and want the strategy set before the next vesting date, not after.

§ 02

What this covers.

Cross-border vesting

Where you're tax-resident when a tranche vests determines who taxes it, and how much. Plan the calendar around the vesting, not the other way around.

Double taxation in two countries

Australia and your host country can both reach for the same gain. Without the right offsets and treaty positions, you pay twice.

Residency-change timing

Moving mid-cycle can apportion a single grant across two tax systems. The split is governed by rules most employers never explain.

Cost-base resets that erase upside

A change of residency can reset the cost base of your equity - quietly wiping out, or unlocking, years of gain depending on how it's handled.

When to vest, when to sell

The tax-optimal moment to exercise, vest or sell is rarely the default. A few months' difference can change the bill dramatically.

Employer reporting rarely tells the full story

Payroll and broker statements seldom reflect the cross-border position. The real exposure has to be worked out independently.

§ 03

How we help.

01 / 05

Vesting & residency timing strategy

When each tranche should vest or sell, and where you should be tax-resident when it does.

02 / 05

Double-tax relief & treaty positioning

The offsets and treaty articles that stop the same gain being taxed twice.

03 / 05

Cost-base & residency-change planning

Managing the reset so it works for you rather than against you.

04 / 05

Grant-by-grant modelling

RSUs, options and ESS interests modelled across the move, with the numbers behind each call.

05 / 05

Coordination with your return

The strategy carried through to the return, with the position documented.

My RSUs were about to vest in the worst possible country at the worst possible time. The planning saved more than my salary that year.

Global tech executive · Melbourne → San Francisco · ESS advisory

Protect the equity you've earned.

A few months' difference in when - and where - your equity vests can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars. Let's build the strategy before the next vesting date.

Book an ESS consultation