Give your team a stake — tax-optimised, no notary.

Vesting means the stake isn't owned outright at once but is earned gradually over a period — typically four years — so it builds up as long as the person stays on board. You set the vesting period in the plan.

A cliff is an initial waiting period — usually twelve months — during which nothing vests yet. If the person leaves before the cliff, they keep nothing; after the cliff the first block vests at once and the rest continues gradually.

Yes. beel is based on a legally reviewed participation model using options on virtual shares for Germany and Austria, developed with leading law firms. Legally, the profit-participation-rights model for employee equity is now well established.

No. The whole process is digital — from creating the plan to signing and managing it. No paper, no notary.

Tax is only due on exercise of the option or sale — not on receipt and not during vesting. In Germany the deferral under §19a EStG applies, in Austria under §3(1)(15)(b) EStG; in Germany up to €2,000 per year is tax-free (§3 No. 39 EStG).

In principle, yes. Exercised options on virtual shares are transferable provided the issuing startup enables the secondary market. There is no liquid or guaranteed secondary market; a sale may not be possible, or only at a loss.

Anyone whose success is closely tied to your company: employees, advisors, freelancers, influencers or business partners.

With a beel participation, employees receive options on virtual shares (profit-participation rights). At grant there is no taxable inflow of wages yet — this only arises on exercise and the resulting discounted acquisition of the profit-participation rights. Only that acquisition can meet the requirements of § 19a of the German Income Tax Act, which initially treats the benefit in kind as tax-free and defers taxation. Because no untaxed wage exists at grant, the flat deferral triggers (lapse of 15 years or end of employment) do not apply here at first. The deferral requires, among other things, that the stake is granted in addition to salary and free of charge or at a discount (no salary conversion), that no co-entrepreneurship arises, that the company was founded no more than 20 years ago, and that it does not exceed the thresholds (annual turnover €100m, balance-sheet total €86m, 1,000 employees). This does not replace tax advice.

An ESOP gives employees options on real shares — with notary, commercial register and often a dry-income risk. A VSOP usually replicates this kind of participation contractually, on a purely economic level. For employee participation via beel, a company gives employees options on virtual shares (equity profit-participation rights): economically like real shares, but more than just a contract, with no notary appointment, taxation only on exercise of the options — and transferable.

Phantom shares are purely contractual claims: at exit or dividend, employees are treated economically as if they held shares — but they are usually not transferable. Options on virtual shares are equity profit-participation rights with the same economic effect, but transferable, provided the issuing startup enables the secondary market.

Not entirely, but tax-favoured. With options on virtual shares on beel there is no inflow of wages at grant — taxation only starts when the profit-participation rights are acquired on exercise. For that acquisition, Germany's €2,000 annual allowance (§ 3 no. 39 EStG) can be used; beyond that, § 19a EStG defers taxation of the benefit in kind. Austria has its own rules. This does not replace tax advice.