But also note that its not a penalty, just normal taxation added to your AGI or MAGI, so you can reduce or nullify that current year tax by having lots of expen

But also note that its not a penalty, just normal taxation added to your AGI or MAGI, so you can reduce or nullify that current year tax by having lots of expenses (borrowing against assets and using them for deductible expenses, donating appreciated assets to charity etc) This can be done strategically, such as one year where you need traditional pretax 401k / IRA tax deductions you just contribute to those. And in a future year you convert those to Roth and report the income that you reduce with expenses Talk with a CPA about it to make it make sense. People act like a random person on the internet mentioning something about legal/taxes is the most heretical thing possible, but the point is to point you in the right direction and bring up the same topic with licensed professionals. Lawyers and CPAs aren't going to procedurally generate all possibilities to get you the best result, you have to inspire them to look in particular directions and verify along with implement if it checks out.