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I thought the FTB rule was that you were subject to tax if the options themselves were awarded in CA, regardless of eventual vest location. Unless you were a hired remote employee of a CA company, I think.

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Thanks for the reply. I was not hired as remote employee. Was hired in CA. So lets say that I got 10,000 stock options (strike @ $1.00) that vests over 4 years. 3 of those years I have been in CA and 1 year in Texas.

Let's assume my company goes IPO in 2024 (it's a lottery, I understand), and assume each share is worth $10.00. Which means my 10,000 shares will be worth $100,000.

So I will owe tax on 7500 of those shares to CA? Because I've been there 3 out of those 4 years? That is ($10.00 - $1.00) * 7500 = $67500 of my income will be taxed by CA? And remaining amount will be taxed by Texas?

Even if I move to Puerto Rico, where there are no capital gains, I still owe CA taxes?

My understanding is that you will owe taxes on all 10,000 shares, since you were in CA when they were granted. Vesting dates don't matter.

Holy sh*t, is this true? CA wants to grab all your money!

That's for sure - look at the Gilbert Hyatt case where they sent investigators to rummage through Nevada garbage looking for taxable evidence, even though he (really) moved many years before.

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