Grant

What Is a Grant?

A grant is an award, usually financial, given by one entity (typically a company, foundation, or government) to an individual or a company to facilitate a goal or incentivize performance. Grants are essentially gifts that do not have to be paid back, under most conditions. These can include education loans, research money, and stock options. Some grants have waiting periods — called lock-up or vesting periods — before the grantee can take full ownership of the financial reward.

Option Grants Explained

For businesses, a grant usually refers to the award of options on the company's stock given to an employee to elicit loyalty and incentivize strong job performance. After the waiting period, the employee can then exercise these stock options and take position of shares, often at a price below the market value of the stock at the time. Sometimes actual shares of stock are granted and can be sold after a waiting period.

Stock option grants are usually offered to employees after they have worked at the company for a set period of time. Each company decides how its grant program operates, but most of the time, employees must continue to work for the company and cannot exercise their granted options (sell their granted shares) for a set period of time.

Moreover, grants usually follow a vesting schedule where rights to the financial rewards accrue over time. For example, an employee remains with the company and becomes 50% vested in the reward. At that point, the employee has nonforfeitable rights to half the reward, even if employment is ended.

From the employer's standpoint, the idea behind stock option grants is to give employees the incentive to align their interests with that of the shareholders. From the employee's standpoint, a stock option grant is an opportunity to purchase stock in the company for which they work. Typically, the grant price is set as the market price at the time the grant is offered.

If the market price of the stock goes up in value, the grant price is still the same and the employee is purchasing a stock at a lower price than market value when exercising the option. In this way, grants are similar to call options, but without an expiration date.

Qualified vs. Non-Qualified Stock Option Grants

A qualified stock option grant, also known as an incentive stock option (ISO), is eligible for a special tax treatment: you don't have to pay income tax when you purchase an option, you instead pay capital gains tax when you sell the option, or taxes on the profits made from the stock option. However, the grant might not be provided at a lower price than market value, as non-qualified options are.

Also, a qualified stock option grant type is sometimes riskier, as the employee must hold on to the option for a longer period of time to qualify for special tax treatment. It is usually reserved for the higher-level employees, and the company cannot write it off as a tax deduction. ISOs cannot be transferred to another person or entity, unless through a will or trust.

Non-qualified stock option (NSO) grants can be transferred to a child or a charity, depending on the specific company's policies. Non-qualified stock option grants are tax-deductible by the company that provides them. Since the grant is provided at a specific price, which is usually lower than the market value for the company's stock, employees who choose to take advantage of this opportunity pay income tax on the difference between these two prices upon purchase. It's important to note that employees are not subject to taxes when the option becomes available to them; instead, they only pay taxes when they purchase a stock option.