Deadline nears for optionares After initial disbelief, accountants are scrambling to warn workers.
The rule applies to the long-accepted practice of selling shares acquired through incentive stock options and then buying them back within 30 days. In the waning days of the year, many workers who exercised incentive stock options are rethinking their strategy and are bailing out of the stock to avoid owing Alternative Minimum Tax next April 15 on paper profits that have evaporated. As a result, greater numbers of optionaires are potentially at risk. It's impossible to say how many people are affected because not even companies thoroughly track whether employees dispose of options and subsequently buy back stock. Many employees still feel strongly about their company's prospects and indicate their intention to quickly buy back the stock so they don't miss a run-up in the stock's price.