Kieran
There are scheme such as your current one available under Australian tax laws. To see how they work please go to
Employee share schemes
Then I suggest you see an Accountant and Financila Planner to ensure you make the most of your opportunity.
Capitals Gains in Australia:
If you hold on to an investment held in your own name for more than 12 months then you get a 50% discount on any capital gain. The remainder of the gain is added to your taxable income in that year and taxed at your marginal tax rate which will depend on your annual income. If you know you have a gain coming up in any year then you can see a planner and do some cashflow and tax planning to reduce the CGT on the sale of the asset.
Beware in your case as because you are not paying for the shares you may find that the profit on the share is counted as Income and not a Capital Gain and in that case you do not get the 50% discount. This is when it is even more inportant to look at the option of paying tax at the granting of the shares rather then the vesting date or sale date.
Hope this helps
regards
Liam
