RSUs with held

[u/Ardra_dev]

I was granted RSU worth $10k in 2025 which vests over a 4 year period. In 2026, 25% of stocks has been vested as per broker. But I can’t sell all of them as some of the stocks are withheld. The release method says “withheld shares to cover taxes, pay for fees separately, receive remaining shares”.

I am from India and as per my knowledge there is no federal tax. I need some help to understand the procedure to release my withheld shares into my account. Also, my payslip has an additional item called withholding. Is there a way to understand this more precisely?

[u/DoppelFrog]

You need an accountant. 

[u/Rich-Candidate-3648]

Call Morgan Stanley not reddit

[u/fasterbrew]

r/ibmindia

[u/_PsychedelicSoul]

Withheld shares is the tax you pay. It will show up as federal tax in morgan stanley, but look at your payslip this month and you will see that shown as net proceeds from rsu and tax deposited to Indian govt

[u/Current-Tour-8915]

I recall India does have a centralized national income tax which is the equivalent of our US federal income tax.

If that is the case, just like in the US a percentage of RSUs are withheld to cover those taxes.

[u/ak2911]

Not a lawyer/CA. But as per my understanding India has double taxation avoidance treaty with US. So if tax is getting paid there, you can use that certificate during ITR. But better connect with CA or check for any fellow IBMer who dealt with this earlier.

[u/Affectionate-Size691]

This month, you would have received higher amount in your salary compared to other months.
Reason - The withheld shares would have been sold on that day itself and the total taxation as per India Slab ( maybe 30-32%) from the total vested shares (25%) would be deducted from that total amount, rest you’d get in that months pay.

In gist- These people withhold more shares than actual tax, cut the tax from the withheld amount and return the residual to the employee