It's generally difficult to optimize taxes beyond a certain level, but of course, there are tax attorneys who can advise you on that. If you are in CA, maybe y

It's generally difficult to optimize taxes beyond a certain level, but of course, there are tax attorneys who can advise you on that. If you are in CA, maybe you can move to a no-income-tax state and whack 12% off your tax bill. That requires advance planning as far as I can tell. But again, with a 1 million W-2, you can hire a tax attorney to advise you on this. You can also talk to an Enrolled Agent (EA), an advanced tax preparer, to see if you can scrape up some savings or get some good advice for the future.