I sold RSUs and ESPP shares in my company this year (it was all held for over 2 years for ESSP shares and 1 year for RSU's), but it all appeared on my W2 wages. I find this odd and while I have a 1099-B, if I enter the data from it I'm getting double taxed then and if it was reported to the IRS it seems like I should only need to include the form right? Or do I need to back it out of my W2 (just include salary) and then itemize it in a 1099-B? Any ideas?
In general, when you get RSUs (I'm less familiar with ESPP), the value of the RSU is reported as wages on your W2 at the time the RSU vests. The value added to your W2 would be the fair market value (FMV) when it vests. This is taxed as regular compensation. It also is your basis in the stock.
When you later sell the stock from the RSU, you will likely have a capital gain or loss since the stock vested. You will treat this as a regular stock transaction, with the difference between your sales proceeds and your basis as either a capital gain or loss.
So the total taxes will be a combination of the tax when the RSU vests (reported on W2) and a capital gain or loss which comes from a 1099B. There should not be any double taxation, because on the sale you are only taxed on the difference between the amount you got from the sale and the amount of your basis (which was taxed when the shares vested.) Since it seems you held all of the shares more than one year, the capital gain/loss will be long-term.
Example: You get 100 shares of stock via RSU on 1/1/2017, valued at $10/share. You pay regular income tax on 100 x $10 = $1000. You sell those 100 shares on 3/1/2018 at $12/share. Your capital gain is
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