is an espp income or capital gains 
if you sell stock purchased through your espp more than 12 months after you purchased it any gain beyond the discount that you received through the plan is taxed as a capital gain the discount is taxed as ordinary income in general capital gains tax rates are much lower than ordinary income tax rates ranging from 0 to 20 depending on your income bracket the bottom linean employee stock purchase plan is an employment benefit that allows employees to purchase stock in the company that employs them at a discounted price sometimes up to 15 employees can build contributions through payroll deductions until the purchase date specified in their contract is a program in which employees can purchase company stock at a discounted price in general shares purchased through an espp are treated like other stock at tax time you would report a capital gain or loss on your income taxes the year that you sell the stock though you may have to pay your ordinary tax rate on the difference between what you paid at the market price of the stock 