The final Section 162(m) regulations issued by the IRS last week have a small but welcome surprise for companies that have recently become public. As explained in this McGuireWoods client alert, the rules exempt RSUs, phantom units and other similar awards from the $1 million deduction limitation if the awards were granted during a newly public company's transition period and before April 1, 2015, even if the awards are paid out after the end of the transition period. The expectation based on the proposed regulations had been that RSUs and other similar awards paid out after the end of the transition period would be subject to the limitation, regardless of when granted.

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