Non-Qualified Stock Option - NSO
What Does Non-Qualified Stock Option - NSO Mean?
A type of employee stock option where you pay ordinary income tax on the difference between the grant price and the price at which you exercise the option.
Investopedia explains Non-Qualified Stock Option - NSO
NSOs are simpler and more common than incentive stock options (ISOs).
They're called non-qualified stock options because they don't meet all of the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code to be qualified as ISOs.