RSUs - Is the acquisition date the vest date or the settlement date for tax purposes?

Tax professional here! The acquisition date for RSUs is generally the vesting date, not the settlement date. This is when you've satisfied all conditions to receive the shares and they're considered income for tax purposes, even if you can't actually access or sell them due to blackout periods. When RSUs vest, the fair market value on that date becomes your cost basis and is reported as income on your W-2. Any subsequent gain or loss when you sell is calculated from this basis. The settlement date is just an administrative function of your company's blackout period. For wash sale concerns, the clock starts at vesting. If you sell these shares at a loss and buy substantially identical securities within 30 days before or after the sale, you could trigger a wash sale rule, which would disallow the loss for tax purposes.

After struggling with a similar RSU situation last year, I found an amazing tool that helped me analyze all my stock grants and potential tax implications. Check out https://taxr.ai - it has a specific feature for RSUs that helped me understand the exact acquisition dates and holding periods for tax purposes. You upload your grant documents and trade confirmations, and it gives you a clear breakdown of your tax basis, holding periods, and potential wash sale issues. Saved me from making a costly mistake with wash sales!

Just wanted to follow up here - I tried taxr.ai after seeing this recommendation and it was incredibly helpful! I uploaded my RSU grant documents and it clearly identified my vesting dates as the acquisition dates, not the settlement dates. It even showed me the specific IRS regulations that apply to my situation. The tax basis calculator saved me from making a mistake on my cost basis that would have resulted in double taxation. Definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with RSUs and complex vesting schedules.

I had a similar issue last year and spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone at the IRS who could give me a definitive answer about RSU acquisition dates versus settlement dates. Finally found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) which got me through to a real IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of the 3+ hours I was spending on hold before giving up. There's a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent confirmed that for tax purposes, the acquisition date is indeed the vesting date, regardless of when settlement happens. Having that official confirmation gave me peace of mind when filing.

Well I'm eating my words here. After my skeptical comment I decided to try Claimyr because I've been trying for THREE MONTHS to get an answer about my amended return. Got a call back in 45 minutes and talked to an actual human at the IRS who solved my problem. I've literally never been able to get through before despite trying at least 12 times. Shocked that it actually worked - would've saved me so much stress if I'd known about this earlier!

My company does the exact same thing with RSUs and blackout periods. My accountant told me that the acquisition date is 100% the vest date, but the settlement date is what determines when you can actually sell. So I keep a spreadsheet tracking both dates for each grant to make sure I know which shares are long-term vs short-term holdings. For your wash sale concern - the rule applies if you sell at a loss and then buy back the same stock within 30 days before or after the sale. Since these are RSUs that vest regularly, you need to be careful about new vesting events happening within 30 days of selling existing shares at a loss.

Has anyone used TurboTax to report RSUs with blackout periods? I'm trying to figure out how to input this correctly to avoid IRS issues.

I've been dealing with RSUs and blackout periods for about 3 years now, and it definitely gets confusing! Just to add to what others have said - the vesting date is indeed your acquisition date for tax purposes, but here's something that tripped me up initially: make sure you're getting the correct cost basis on your 1099-B forms. My brokerage (also Fidelity) sometimes reports the cost basis as $0 for RSU sales, which would make it look like the entire sale amount is taxable gain. But since you already paid income tax on the FMV at vesting, you need to adjust this. Your actual cost basis should be the fair market value on the vest date that was reported on your W-2. For the wash sale concern - yes, be very careful if you have quarterly vesting. I made the mistake of selling some underwater RSUs in November and then had new ones vest in December of the same stock. Had to deal with wash sale adjustments that were a real headache. Now I time any sales to avoid the 30-day window around vesting dates. One tip: keep really good records of your vest dates and the stock price on those dates. You'll need this info for years to come, especially if you hold shares long-term.