V VestedGrant
Director of engineering · ME

Director of engineering equity comp in Maine

How director of engineerings earning large rsu + psu grants should plan around Maine's 7.15% top marginal rate.

Typical comp shape

Director of engineerings usually earn large rsu + psu grants. Common employers include Meta, Stripe, Salesforce. Director-level equity refreshes can exceed $1M annually, so 10b5-1 plans and QSBS stacking become primary planning tools.

What Maine changes

In Maine, every RSU vest, NSO exercise, and ESPP purchase carries 7.15% state tax on top of federal. For a senior director of engineering with $300k+ of equity income, the state layer routinely adds $25-45k to the annual bill.

Planning cadence

For a director of engineering in Maine, the three planning windows are: after each RSU vest (withholding check and sell-vs-hold), before any ISO exercise (AMT model at federal only), and in Q4 (estimated tax top-up to clear the safe harbor).

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