Kraft Heinz (KHC) RSU sell-vs-hold
Calculator · free · no signup · KHCSell at vest or hold? Compare after-tax payout from selling Kraft Heinz RSUs at vest vs. holding through the LTCG cliff at 12 months.
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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 KHC today.
Most diversification frameworks would advise against a purchase that size in a single name; the right answer depends on your conviction in KHC. 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 →Related calculators: RSU Lot Order Calculator · Stock Concentration Calculator
About Kraft Heinz
Kraft Heinz (KHC) is a public Consumer Staples company, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA.
Last close: $22.19 per share (as of 2026-10-04).
Equity grants at Kraft Heinz typically include restricted stock units (RSUs).
The Kraft Heinz Company, commonly known as Kraft Heinz, is an American multinational food company formed on July 2, 2015, through the merger of Kraft Foods Group and the H.J. Heinz Company. It is co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh and manufactures and markets packaged foods and beverages under brands including Kraft, Heinz, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Lunchables, Velveeta, Maxwell House, and Jell-O. In fiscal 2025, the company reported net sales of US$24.9 billion and employed approximately 35,000 people in 40 countries.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital engineered the 2015 merger of Kraft and Heinz, applying aggressive cost reduction to a portfolio of packaged food brands. A 2019 writedown of more than fifteen billion dollars acknowledged that cutting had damaged brand equity, and strategy since has emphasized reinvestment. Center-of-store packaged food faces private-label competition and changing consumer preference. The company has announced plans to separate its faster-growing brands from the slower ones. Headquarters are in Chicago and Pittsburgh.
Sources: sec.gov · en.wikipedia.org
Equity comp at Kraft Heinz
- Kraft Heinz uses a modified double-trigger structure under its 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan and its Change in Control Severance Plan (effective January 1, 2023). On a change in control, performance-based awards convert to time-based awards, credited at whichever is higher of target or actual performance measured through the change-in-control date, and then keep vesting on the original schedule. Full, immediate vesting of any unvested award only happens if the acquirer does not assume or replace the awards, or if the employee is terminated without cause (or an executive officer resigns for good reason) in the window from three months before to twenty-four months after the change in control.
- Early exercise is not allowed: you have to wait for shares to vest before you can buy them.
- RSUs use double-trigger vesting. Two things must both happen before the shares are yours: (1) the normal time-based vesting completes, and (2) the company has a liquidity event (an IPO or an acquisition). Until both happen, you do not yet own the shares and you do not owe tax on them.
Researched 2026-08-24.
OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Kraft Heinz.
Kraft Heinz (KHC) 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 Kraft Heinz (KHC) RSUs vesting at $22.19 per share is $11,095 of ordinary income on vest day. After roughly 32% combined federal + state + FICA (~$3,550), the post-tax share value is ~$7,545. 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 Kraft Heinz tools → · Use the generic RSU Sell-vs-Hold Calculator for any company. Diversifying multiple RSU lots? See the lot-by-lot sell order →
Kraft Heinz equity questions
- Should I sell or hold my Kraft Heinz RSUs at vest?
- Kraft Heinz 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 Kraft Heinz grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
- Equity compensation at Kraft Heinz typically takes the form of restricted stock units (RSUs). Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest.
- Does Kraft Heinz allow early exercise of stock options?
- No. Kraft Heinz requires options to vest before you can exercise them, so the holding-period clock for long-term capital-gains treatment starts as each tranche vests and you exercise it.
- Do Kraft Heinz RSUs use double-trigger vesting?
- Yes. Kraft Heinz restricted stock units (RSUs) vest only when two things both happen: the time-based schedule completes, and the company has a liquidity event such as an initial public offering (IPO) or an acquisition. Until both occur you do not own the shares and owe no tax on them.
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