InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[rmarchma]

Vq_future re possible tax reasons for Rip's sale

One of the basic income tax planning concepts is to defer income into the next tax year if possible. All Rip had to do was to wait a few more days before making the discretionary options exercise and resulting stock sale. He could have then easily delayed all of the very large gain on the latest sale into the next tax year, rather than this tax year.

Why throw another big taxable gain into 2004, when he already had a real big taxable gain in 2004 from the June sale. If Rip needed cash to pay estimated taxes, he still had until Jan. 15, 2005 to get the money to the IRS. If he sold in early 2005, he would still have received the needed cash to cover any significant tax liability payment for the 2004 tax year.