RSU net shares after withholding calculator
Estimate how many shares you actually keep once taxes are withheld at vest.
RSUs · Forms & reporting
If 100 RSUs vest, how many shares do you actually keep? Fewer than 100, because your employer sells some to cover the tax before the rest ever reach your account. That method is called sell-to-cover, and this tool tells you roughly how many shares survive it.
Interactive calculator coming soon
The live version is being built. Until it ships, here is the math it runs, which you can do by hand with one vesting statement.
Why you do not keep every share
When RSUs vest, the full value is taxable wages right away. Most companies handle the tax by holding back a chunk of the shares, selling them, and sending the proceeds to the IRS and your state. You receive only the leftover shares. So the share count on your grant is the gross number, and what lands in your brokerage account is the net number. The gap is the withholding.
The math it runs
Start with the shares vesting and the price
Multiply the number of shares by the vest-day price to get the gross value. That is the wage amount being taxed.
Apply the withholding rate
Estimate the total rate your employer withholds: federal supplemental plus Social Security and Medicare plus state. For 2026 the federal supplemental rate is a flat 22% 2026 (37% on cumulative supplemental wages over $1,000,000), the Medicare portion is 1.45% with an extra 0.9% once wages cross the threshold, and Social Security applies up to the wage base of $184,500 2026. Add your state’s supplemental rate on top. California withholds 10.23% 2026 on stock supplemental wages, and New York withholds 11.70% 2026 for the state plus 4.25% 2026 for New York City, to give you two high-tax reference points.
Convert the tax into shares sold
Multiply the gross value by your total withholding rate to get the dollars of tax, then divide by the vest-day price. That is roughly how many shares get sold to cover it. Brokers usually round up to whole shares, so expect a small cash remainder back.
Subtract to get net shares
Shares vesting minus shares sold to cover equals the shares you keep. That is the number that actually shows up in your account.
Watch out
Sell-to-cover withholds at the flat 22% supplemental rate, not your real tax rate. If your real rate is higher, the shares they sold did not raise enough to cover your actual bill, and you still owe the difference at tax time. Net shares in your account does not mean the tax is fully paid.
A quick read on the result
The higher your withholding rate, the fewer shares you keep. That is mechanical and fine. The trap is assuming the tax is settled because the shares already shrank. For a high earner the 22% federal slice usually falls short of the real rate, so plan for a second payment. Size it with the withholding gap calculator.
Can I pay cash instead of selling shares?
Some plans let you write a check so you keep all the shares. Whether that is smart is a separate question from this calculation, because keeping more of one concentrated stock is a risk decision, not just a tax one. The tradeoff is laid out in sell-to-cover vs paying cash.
Why did I get a little cash back after a vest?
Brokers sell whole shares, and a whole share usually raises slightly more than the exact tax owed. The small overage comes back to you as cash. It is the rounding, not a bonus.
The number to remember is net shares, and the warning to remember is that net shares is not the same as taxes paid. Count what you keep, then check whether the withholding actually covered your real rate. If it did not, set the difference aside before you spend a dollar of the vest. A short fit check can confirm the math if your vesting is large.
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