Elon Musk's tax bill on stock options fell along with Tesla's share price
Elon Musk already faces a federal tax bill approaching $2.7 billion on exercising $Tesla(TSLA.US)$ . stock options. It would have been bigger if the company's share price hasn't fallen after he tweeted about selling stock. The stock fluctuations have financial consequences for the U.S. government, Mr. Musk, and Tesla. When the share price goes down, it not only reduces how much tax the Tesla chief executive owes the U.S. government in the short term, it also lowers his total potential tax payments linked to those shares if he sells them in the future. Any such later sales also may not be taxed by California because Mr. Musk moved his residence to Texas last year. At the same time, exercising the options at a lower stock price could weigh on the company he controls. The tax deductions that Tesla can claim for that part of Mr. Musk's compensation package are effectively reduced if he exercises options at lower share prices. The electric-vehicle maker's chief executive