FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 26, 2002 Contact: Rachel Haynes, SIIA PR (202) 789-4461
SIIA Commends Extended Moratorium on Payroll Taxes for Stock Options and Purchase Plans
SIIA Applauds the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (Washington, DC) The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) President, Ken Wasch, today applauded a decision by the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to extend the moratorium on payroll taxes for incentive stock options (ISOs) and employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs). Ken Wasch reiterated that changing longstanding policy to require withholding of FICA and FUTA taxes would make participation in these plans much less attractive to many employees and, subsequently, that many of the participants may discover they have to sell the stock they purchased in order to pay the withholding taxes. "ISOs and ESPPs are extremely valuable tools for companies of all sizes to recruit, retain and incentivize employeesparticularly for small and medium-sized high-tech companies. The moratorium, at least temporarily, prevents a change in treatment that would be contrary to the fundamental purposes of ESPPs and ISOs, one that would effectively represent a substantial new tax burden on employees and employers," said Ken Wasch. "In light of this announcement to indefinitely extend the moratorium, we are hopeful that the Department of Treasury and the IRS will have an opportunity to rethink this proposed change in tax treatment for ISOs and ESPPs. Going forward with the change in policy at any point would be a substantial tax increase, and a big mistake." For more information on SIIA's government affairs activities or to read the comments please visit http://www.siia.net/govt or contact David LeDuc, Director of Public Policy, at dleduc@siia.net or (202) 789-4443. About SIIA The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education and intellectual property protection to more than 800 leading software and information companies. For further information, http://www.siia.net. ####