Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) Calculator

§ 423 · reviewed October 29, 2026

Shows what the shares you bought through your company's stock purchase plan are worth after tax, sold now or after the qualifying date. About

In plain words. An employee stock purchase plan takes money out of your paycheck for a few months and then buys your employer's stock at a discount, often off the lower of two prices. The discount is taxed as wages when you sell, and how much of it is wages depends on how long you hold the shares. This tool takes the two prices, the discount, what you put in, a sale price, and your tax rates, and shows the tax and what you keep if you sell within a year, and if you wait for the qualifying date instead.

Why it matters. The plan can be one of the better deals in a benefits package, and most people either skip it or hold the shares out of loyalty. Knowing what the discount is worth after tax, and how little the tax saving from waiting is worth against a move in the stock, makes the sell-or-hold choice a plain one.

An example. $10,000 buys 235 shares at $42.50 when the stock went from $50 to $60 with a 15% discount and a lookback. Sold at $60 right away, you keep about $2,797 over what you put in after $1,316 of tax. Waiting for the qualifying date at the same price saves about $400 of tax, which a fall to $58.00 would erase.

Where it stops. The sale price is yours to guess, and the stock will not wait at it. The tool prices one purchase at the rates you enter and leaves out state tax, the 3.8 percent surtax, and the $25,000 yearly limit, which it does not check. If you leave the company or the plan changes its terms, the numbers change with it. Everything it leaves out (opens in a new window).

Stock price when the offering began

The price on the first day of the offering period. Box 3 of Form 3922, or your plan statement.

Stock price on the day the shares were bought

The price on the purchase date. Box 4 of Form 3922.

What you put in over the period

The total taken from your pay for this purchase. Your plan statement shows it.

Sale price

The price today, or the one you expect. Start with the purchase-day price to see a sale the day the shares arrive.

Discount the plan gives

Most plans give 15 percent, the most the law allows. Your plan document says.

Does the plan have a lookback?

Yes, it uses the lower of the two pricesNo, the discount is off the purchase-day price

With a lookback, the discount comes off the lower of the two prices.

Your ordinary income tax rate

The federal rate on your wages. The discount is taxed at this rate.

Your long-term capital gains rate

0, 15, or 20 percent, depending on your income in the year you sell.

What you keep after tax if you sell now, over what you put in

$2,797

You put in $9,988 and bought 235 shares at $42.50 each. Sold at $60 within a year of the purchase, the discount is wages and the rest is short-term gain, so the whole gain is taxed at your 32% rate, $1,316 in all. $12.50 of what you put in was less than one share and carries to the next purchase.

The discount, in dollars, on the day you bought: $4,113; 41.2% on what you put in, before tax
Tax saved by waiting for the qualifying date: $400; At the same $60 sale price, 2 years after the offering began and 1 year after the purchase
Sale price that erases the saving: $58.00; A fall of 3.3% from $60. Below it, waiting leaves you with less than selling now.

The tax saving from waiting is real, and it is small next to the stock. Waiting means holding shares of the company that pays you for a year or more to save a few hundred dollars of tax on each ten thousand you put in. Many people sell soon after the purchase and move the money to where the rest of their savings live. Some hold because they would own the stock anyway. The calculator prices the tax side so the holding choice can be made on its own terms.

This follows the federal rules for employee stock purchase plans, at the rates you set, for one purchase sold at one price. It leaves out state tax, the 3.8 percent investment income surtax, dividends, the $25,000 yearly limit, and what happens if you leave the company before the shares are bought. Educational, not advice.

This is a simplified model, not your actual tax return or plan. It only knows what you type in, leaves out rules that may apply to you, and cannot weigh the other facts and trade-offs a real decision depends on. Before you act, talk with a professional who knows your whole situation.

Educational only, not investment, tax, or legal advice. Results are hypothetical estimates that vary with each use and over time and are not guaranteed accurate or complete. Using this tool creates no client relationship with Considerate Capital, and the site that linked here is not affiliated with it. By using it you agree to the tool terms (opens in a new window).