I am American but living and working in Germany for a large European company. I received a restricted stock award in 2015 that vested in 2018, and the net share proceeds were transferred to my brokerage account administered by Computershare in the UK. The gross shares were reduced by nearly 50% to cover my German tax liability (and reported on my foreign W-2 equivalent) and the net share amount received was sold and the net proceeds transferred to my Germany bank account in Euros in early 2018. In early 2019, I received a form 1099-B from Computershare identifying this sale of company stock in USD for the net proceeds (-0- federal income tax withheld), as I am a US citizen and they are required to report this transaction.
While preparing my 2018 US federal tax return, it appears that this transaction is resulting in about a 25% tax due on this already-taxed restricted stock award and in the end I may only receive 25% of the original amount! This does not seem correct that the US takes another portion of this income and taxes it, and in my opinion should be somehow excluded as is my foreign income earned abroad under the Bona Fide Presence Text. Does anyone have any experience that may help me on this topic? A big thanks if you can help!
