Amazon's back-weighted vesting concentrates risk
The 5%–15%–40%–40% schedule means most of your AMZN value lands in years 3 and 4. Lot management, LTCG timing, and repatriation planning matter more at Amazon than most.
~₹5,000 lost per $10,000 wire
Morgan Stanley at Work's $25–$50 wire + Indian bank FX spread. On a large year-4 AMZN vest, you may repatriate $60,000+ — that's ₹24,000–₹42,000 in FX friction in one year.
FIFO default buries LTCG savings
Shareworks defaults to FIFO. For Indian residents with the 24-month LTCG rule, picking the right lot can mean the difference between 12.5% LTCG and slab-rate STCG.
USD-only reporting, no India-format export
Morgan Stanley at Work issues a US 1099-B. India filing needs INR amounts, 24-month LTCG classification, and Schedule FA — none of which Shareworks generates.
How to transfer your AMZN RSUs to Rovia
Everything is done inside Rovia — takes about 2 minutes.
Download your Shareworks holdings statement
Log into shareworks.morganstanley.com → Reports → Tax documents + Transaction history. Download your positions and gains statement. Amazon's schedule creates many lots — save this for Rovia cost basis import.
Open Rovia → tap Transfer In → select Morgan Stanley
Open Rovia and navigate to Transfer In. Select "Morgan Stanley StockPlan Connect · at Work" from the broker list. Enter your full name as it appears on Shareworks, and your account number.
Choose full or partial — then submit
Select Full Transfer to move all AMZN holdings, or Partial to pick specific lots (e.g. LTCG-eligible lots first). Submit and you're done — shares move in-kind in 3–5 business days. No sale, no tax event.
Upload your statement — Rovia imports your cost basis
Once AMZN shares arrive, upload the statement from Step 1. Rovia computes INR cost basis per lot at the vest-day SBI TT rate. Amazon's back-weighted vesting means lots vary widely — Rovia tracks every one.
Does Morgan Stanley at Work charge a fee to transfer out?
Yes — typically $50–$75 one-time ACATS-out fee. Standard broker transfer fee, not specific to Rovia.
Amazon's Year 3 and Year 4 vests are large. Should I transfer everything at once?
You can do a partial transfer — move Year 1 and Year 2 lots (already past 24-month threshold) first and move the rest when you're happy with Rovia.
Does Amazon restrict RSU trading during blackouts? Does that affect ACATS?
Amazon has trading windows. ACATS transfers are generally permitted during blackouts — you're moving shares, not selling them. Verify with your stock-plan administrator.
Earnings dates are estimates for Q2 2026. Blackout windows are approximate — actual dates are set by Amazon and communicated to employees separately. ACATS share transfers are generally permitted during blackout periods (they are not sales), but always verify with your stock plan administrator.
Amazon stock — context for Indian employees
Amazon's back-weighted vest schedule (5%/15%/40%/40%) means Indian Amazonian RSU exposure ramps dramatically in years 3–4. AWS continues to dominate at 31%+ cloud market share. The advertising business crossed $50B/year and is growing 20%+. Retail margin recovery is the main 2025 story — operating income from NA Retail has recovered to historic highs. Analyst targets: $230–$270.
AMZN has retraced from 2021 highs but the business is fundamentally stronger. AWS margin expansion, Advertising mix shift, and Kuiper (satellite) are three growth vectors not present in 2021. The stock trades at ~35× forward earnings — high vs. traditional retail, but low vs. a cloud/ad compounder. For Indian employees: Amazon's back-weighted vesting creates a large Year 3–4 tax event — planning ahead is critical.
Why diversification matters for AMZN holders
Amazon's vest structure means many Indian employees suddenly receive 2–3× their usual RSU value in years 3–4. Holding this entirely in AMZN creates a sudden, large, highly correlated position. AWS revenue concentration (responsible for 60%+ of total operating income) means any hyperscaler slowdown hits AMZN disproportionately.
India tax guide for US RSU holders
RSU vesting: it's taxable income on Day 1
When your RSUs vest, the fair market value of shares on the vest date is treated as a perquisite — a form of salary income under India's Income Tax Act. This means you owe tax in the year of vesting, regardless of whether you sell. The taxable amount is the number of shares vested × vest-day closing price, converted to INR using the SBI TT buying rate on that date.
Most Indian employees at US tech companies are in the 30% slab plus 4% health and education cess, bringing the effective perquisite tax rate to 31.2%. Your employer's US payroll typically withholds a portion via sell-to-cover, but you must self-assess any balance in your India ITR.
Capital gains: the 24-month rule that most employees miss
India taxes capital gains on foreign shares differently from the US. In the US, long-term capital gains kick in at 12 months. In India, foreign shares must be held for 24 months to qualify as long-term capital assets.
Short-term capital gains (STCG) — shares held less than 24 months from the vest date — are taxed at your income tax slab rate. For a senior IC in the 30% slab with 15% surcharge, that's approximately 35.88% all-in. Long-term capital gains (LTCG) on foreign shares are taxed at a flat 12.5% under the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024, effective July 23, 2024 — the prior 20%-with-indexation regime was replaced and indexation was removed entirely. With surcharge and cess on top, the all-in LTCG rate sits around 14–15% for high earners.
The 24-month clock starts from the vest date (not the grant date). Each lot vests separately, so careful lot tracking is essential.
Schedule FA: the foreign asset disclosure most people skip
Schedule FA (Foreign Assets) in the ITR must be filed by every Indian resident & ordinarily resident who holds any foreign asset — including US stocks — at any time during the relevant accounting period. There is no minimum threshold for disclosure: even a single share triggers filing. The accounting period for Schedule FA is the calendar year (January 1 – December 31), not the Indian financial year — a quirk that catches almost every first-time filer.
Failure to disclose is treated as a violation under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act, 2015, with penalties of ₹10 lakh per year under Section 43, prosecution risk under Section 50 (up to 7 years), and reassessment open for up to 10 years under Section 149(1)(c). The Income Tax Department now receives end-of-year balances directly from US financial institutions via the Common Reporting Standard, so non-filing is increasingly mechanically detectable.
Schedule FA requires per-lot disclosure: name of the foreign entity, country code, acquisition date, initial value (INR at vest-day RBI TT rate), peak value during the calendar year, closing value at Dec 31, and any sale proceeds during the period. Rovia auto-generates Schedule FA data at filing time.
Form 67 and the foreign tax credit
If your US stocks pay dividends, the US withholds 30% (or 25% if you have filed a W-8BEN, as all Rovia account holders do). India also taxes dividend income at your slab rate. To avoid double taxation, you can claim a Foreign Tax Credit (FTC) by filing Form 67.
Form 67 must be filed before the ITR due date — not after. It requires the dividend amount, the US tax withheld, and the exchange rate on the dividend payment date. Rovia tracks dividends lot-by-lot to produce Form 67-ready data.
The INR cost basis problem: why it matters
Your broker (Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, Morgan Stanley) maintains your cost basis in USD. But India's capital gains calculation requires INR cost basis, converted using the SBI TT buying rate on the vest date of each lot.
For a 4-year employee with quarterly vesting, this means 16 individual lots, each with a different USD price, different exchange rate, and different 24-month clock. Getting this wrong — even by using the wrong exchange rate — constitutes an incorrect ITR filing.
Rovia applies SBI TT rates automatically at each vest date and maintains lot-level INR cost basis. Your CA gets a ready-to-file summary rather than a 1099-B in USD.
What Rovia automates for you
INR cost basis — automatic
Every lot gets INR cost basis at the vest-day SBI TT buying rate. No manual conversion, no spreadsheet, no CA fee for pulling rates.
24-month countdown per lot
Rovia shows a countdown to LTCG eligibility for each lot. You can see at a glance which AMZN lots are short-term vs. long-term before you sell.
Schedule FA ready to file
Rovia generates Schedule FA data (peak balance, acquisition cost in INR, country) for your CA or your own ITR — no manual reconstruction from statements.
Form 67 / FTC tracking
Dividend withholding tracked lot-by-lot. Form 67 data ready at filing. Claim back the US 25% withholding as a foreign tax credit in India.
0 platform FX markup
When you repatriate AMZN sale proceeds, Rovia adds no FX spread. You pay your bank's wire rate — saving ₹4,000–₹7,000 per $10,000 repatriated vs. Morgan Stanley.
India-based support, IST hours
Rovia's support team is in India. If you have a tax or transfer question at 10 AM IST, someone answers — not an overnight ticket queue.
Ready to move your
Amazon RSUs?
Transfer in minutes inside Rovia. Your AMZN shares arrive in 3–5 days with INR cost basis, lot-level 24-month LTCG countdown, and Schedule FA ready for filing.
Transfer to Rovia →
