Employee Stock Option Agreement for an Estonian Startup
Estonia has founder-friendly rules for employee share options — but only if the paperwork and timing are right. To get the tax relief, the option agreement must be in place and the options generally held for at least three years before shares are issued, with EMTA notified. A generic template that ignores this can cost your hire a tax bill.
What this document is
An employee stock option agreement (optsioonileping) grants a specific person the right to acquire shares in the future — stating the number, vesting schedule, strike price and conditions. Ours is a simple, single-grant agreement, not an investor-grade pool document.
Why generate it here
- Built around the 3-year holding rule for tax relief + the EMTA notification.
- Simpler than investor-grade packs — for granting one hire an option.
- Bilingual ET+EN, editable DOCX.
How it works
- 1 Enter the grantee, number of options, vesting and strike price (and grant date).
- 2 Preview and pay €6.45 (−50% first).
- 3 Receive the Estonian agreement + English copy, PDF + DOCX.
Frequently asked
Why does the 3-year holding period matter?
Under Estonian rules, employee options generally need to be held for at least three years from grant before the shares are issued for the favourable tax treatment to apply. Issuing earlier can trigger payroll taxation of the benefit.
Do I need to notify EMTA about the option agreement?
To rely on the tax relief, the option agreement should be digitally signed or notarised and made available to the Tax and Customs Board (EMTA) on request. Keep the signed agreement and grant date on record.
Is this suitable for a big option pool with investors?
No — this is a simple single-grant agreement. For a full investor-grade ESOP pool, use a startup-lawyer package. Ours fits a founder granting options to an early hire.
Fill a simple form → get a ready, register-valid document.
Legally valid Estonian + an English copy you can read. Editable DOCX. No lawyer, no notary.
Start now — €6.45Other documents for your Estonian OÜ
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