Tax Abatement and Refund Strategies for Taxpayers Who Exercised Employee Stock Options

Dear Taxpayer,

If you exercised Nonqualified stock options or incentive stock options, you may be entitled to receive an abatement or a refund of federal income tax that you paid in connection with the exercise or sale of your employee stock options.

The Seattle law firm Isaacson & Wilson, P.S. is currently assisting clients who have exercised employee stock options to obtain a refund and or abatement of taxes based upon arguments of law relating to alternative minimum tax credits (AMT), stocks exercised by utilizing company debt, insiders subject to Section 16(b) liability, and stock which was restricted from being traded in any manner.

Below is a check list to determine whether you may qualify for an abatement or refund of your federal income taxes based upon your exercise of employee stock options. If you are interested in pursuing a possible refund of a portion of the taxes you paid, please check any boxes which apply to you. If you check "yes" to #1 and any of the other boxes, you may qualify for a tax refund. We will then evaluate whether we may be able to seek a refund for you and advise you accordingly.

You may have a short window of time to proceed because the statute of limitations to amend your tax returns may expire.  If we determine that we may be of service to you, we will forward a more detailed questionnaire, along with a request for documentation and our standard fee agreement. Once the documentation request is sent to you, it will be your responsibility to provide the requested information. Failure to provide the complete documentation as requested may result in your being ineligible to submit a claim.

Our firm is undertaking selected cases on an hourly basis. A complete explanation of our charges for fees and costs will be provided prior to any engagement.

We look forward to evaluating your case and hope that we will be able to assist you in this matter.

Very truly yours,

Brian Isaacson and Mark Wilson

Stock Option Questionnaire


Client Information
Name
Spouse Name
Street Address
City
State
Zip
Business Phone
Home Phone
Mobile Phone
Email
Best time to reach you

Please check any of the following that apply to you:
       ReformAMT Member, Friend, or Family
       Referred by CPA, Attorney, Broker, or Other
    Referred by   


Company Information
Company Name
Ticker Symbol

Company Status Existing   Acquired/Merged   Bankruptcy

Your position Officer/Director Senior Manager
Middle Manager Individual Contributor

Do you have access to insider information even if you were not considered by the company to be an insider (e.g. sales or earning numbers, new company acquisitions, new products, etc.)?
Yes   No If Yes, please describe:

Are you still employed by the company?
Yes   No If No, please describe the circumstances of termination of employment:


Option Information
Type of options granted NQs    ISOs

Were the options granted:
In consideration of employment contract? Yes    No
At a later date? Yes    No
As a condition of merger, reorganization or purchase of assets? Yes    No
In exchange for an investment interest in the Company? Yes    No
Other reasons, please explain :


Method of Exercise / Advisor Information
How did you exercise your grants?        Cash    Margin    Company Debt
Did you exercise and hold? Yes    No
Did you exercise and sell? Yes    No
Did you hold shares and lose fair market value in your portfolio? Yes    No

Estimate the amount between FMV at exercise and FMV at time of sale for each year:
2005
2006
2007

Who prepared your tax return?

Who was your broker(s)/dealer(s)?

Who was your investment advisor or financial planner?

Did you receive any investment advice? If so, was it timely? Please explain.

Did your investment advisor or financial planner recommend that you use a Margin Account?

Did your investment advisor or financial planner recommend that you hedge against losses? If so, what was their recommendation (stop loss, collar, puts and calls)?

Did you manage your retirement plan, or was it managed by a third party (broker, agent or advisor)?

Comments:


Restrictions
Were there any restrictions on your ability to sell your shares after exercise?
16(b) Yes    No
Rule 144 Yes    No
Corporate consent to sell Yes    No
Blackout dates Yes    No
Corporate option to buyback shares Yes    No
Shares exercised before fully vested Yes    No
Other restrictions, please explain:


Tax Liability and IRS Status
2005 2006 2007
What was your total tax liability?
Amount attributable to exercise of options
How much of your liability was paid?
How much do you still owe?
Amount of AMT credit  (see line 26 of federal tax form 8801)
When did you file your returns?

What is the status of your case with the IRS?
Fully paid
Offer in compromise
Collections
Audit
Appeals