Block (XYZ) RSU sell-vs-hold
Calculator · free · no signup · XYZSell at vest or hold? Compare after-tax payout from selling Block RSUs at vest vs. holding through the LTCG cliff at 12 months.
Beta · invite-only · AlphaLatitude Inc. · Free Tools
Your vest
Tax inputs
Hold strategy
Best after-tax payout — at year 1 yr
$47,709
Sell + invest wins by $4,981 over Hold 1 yr.
Estimates only. Not financial advice.
Heads-up: under-withholding. Your employer withholds federal tax at the IRS supplemental rate (22.0% on this vest, ≈ $17,600). Your marginal federal rate on this vest is 32.7%, owing $26,171. Expect to settle the $8,571 gap at tax time.
The hidden purchase
Tax was paid at vest either way. Holding is mathematically equivalent to taking $44,509 in after-tax cash and buying $44,509 of XYZ today.
Most diversification frameworks would advise against a purchase that size in a single name; the right answer depends on your conviction in XYZ. Holding past one year converts the gain to LTCG.
Sell + invest
Best payout| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Federal | |
| State | |
| Medicare | −$1,160 |
| Additional Medicare | −$720 |
| Market gain over 1 yr at 10.0% | $4,451 |
| Cap-gain tax on diversified gain — LTCG (federal + state + NIIT) | −$1,251 |
| Net at year 1 yr | $47,709 |
Sell every share at vest; invest the after-tax cash at the market return for 1 yr, then liquidate. Diversified — no single-stock concentration risk.
Hold 1 yr
| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Vest tax (federal + state + FICA) | |
| Net at year 1 yr | $42,728 |
Sold 444 shares to cover vest tax (net-settled); kept 556 shares 1 yr to qualify for long-term capital gains.
Social Security + Medicare are payroll taxes (collectively called FICA) — they apply because you're still employed at vest.
Both columns are stated in year-1 yr dollars. The sell side compounds at the market return; the hold side compounds at your single-stock expected return after a 20% volatility drag.
Estimates only. Assumes net-settled (sell-to-cover) vesting; double-trigger and pre-IPO RSUs are out of scope. Excludes multi-state moves, AMT interactions on other equity, and 83(b) elections. Not financial advice.
You evaluated one RSU vest. The beta plans every vest of every grant across years, with concentration and AMT in the loop.
Request beta access →About Block
Block (XYZ) is a public Fintech company, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Oakland, CA. IPO'd Nov 19, 2015.
Last close: $74.68 per share (as of 2026-06-16).
Equity grants at Block typically include restricted stock units (RSUs).
Block, Inc. is an American technology company and a financial services provider for consumers and merchants. Founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey, it is the U.S. market leader in point-of-sale systems. As of 2024, Block serves 57 million users and 4 million sellers, processing $241 billion in payments annually.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Square started with a small white card reader that plugged into a smartphone headphone jack, letting any merchant accept credit cards with just an iPhone and a free app. Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey founded the company in San Francisco in 2009 after McKelvey lost a $2,000 faucet sale because he couldn't accept American Express. Square grew from hardware into cloud-based POS software, payroll, and lending for small businesses, while Cash App became a leading peer-to-peer payment and bitcoin wallet for consumers. The company rebranded to Block in December 2021 and acquired buy-now-pay-later provider Afterpay for $29 billion in January 2022. Block reported $24.1 billion in revenue in 2024.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · cnbc.com
Equity comp at Block
- RSUs use single-trigger vesting: shares become yours as each portion vests on schedule, and the value is taxed as ordinary income at that point. No IPO or acquisition is required.
Researched 2026-05-07.
OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Block.
Block (XYZ) RSUs vest as ordinary income at the price on vest day. The decision is whether to sell at vest and reinvest, or hold the shares through the 12-month LTCG cliff. This calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare like-for-like.
Example: 500 Block (XYZ) RSUs vesting at $74.68 per share is $37,340 of ordinary income on vest day. After roughly 32% combined federal + state + FICA (~$11,949), the post-tax share value is ~$25,391. Holding 12 months for long-term capital-gains treatment then only matters for the price change between vest and sale; the ordinary income at vest is already locked in. The calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math.
All Block tools → · Use the generic RSU Sell-vs-Hold Calculator for any company.
Block equity questions
- Should I sell or hold my Block RSUs at vest?
- Block restricted stock units (RSUs) are taxed as ordinary income on their value at vest whether or not you sell. The only open decision is what to do with the shares afterward: sell at vest and reinvest, or hold past twelve months for long-term capital-gains treatment on any further gain. The calculator above runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare them directly.
- Does Block grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
- Equity compensation at Block typically takes the form of restricted stock units (RSUs). Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest.
- Do Block RSUs use double-trigger vesting?
- No. Block restricted stock units (RSUs) use single-trigger vesting: each tranche becomes yours as it vests on schedule, taxed as ordinary income at that point, with no liquidity event required.
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