A Practice Note providing an overview of Internal Revenue Code Sections 280G and 4999, which address golden parachute payments. These provisions generally impose a 20% excise tax on excess parachute payments and prohibit employers from deducting excess parachute payments. This Note discusses who is a disqualified individual subject to the golden parachute provisions, the types of compensation subject to the golden parachute excise tax, transactions that trigger the golden parachute proisions, and how the excise tax is calculated.