Indeed. That varies widely, though, and corporations are subject to it too, with its own weirdnesses, so I was trying to stick to apples-to-apples federal tax comparisons.
I does vary widely, but the weighted majority of all such cases are in California (and NY might be next.) Those two states happen to have among the highest state taxes also.
Consider this: Where were the last 20 major IPOs? The last 20 major acquisitions? Where were the founding teams (i.e., the ones with the most stock facing such issues.)
...I'll bet 80% or more of these were in CA. I'm only pointing this out because once you're a super-successful startup and you've gone thru all the steps for a successful liquidity event, there is the final bath of taxes :-/
