Based on your financial expertise, provide your response or viewpoint on the given financial question or topic. The response format is open.

Employer skipped payments, should I allow them to defer payment until Jan 2017?
First, let's look at the tax brackets for single taxpayers in 2016: The cutoff between the 25% and 28% tax bracket is $91,150.  You said that your gross is $87,780.  This will be reduced by deductions and exemptions (at least $10,350).  Your rental income will increase your income, but it is offset in part by your rental business expenses. For this year, you will almost certainly be in the 25% bracket, whether or not you receive your backpay this year.  Next year, if you receive your backpay then and your salary is $11k higher, I'm guessing you'll be close to the edge. It is important to remember that the tax brackets are marginal.  This means that when you move up to the next tax bracket, it is only the amount of income that puts you over the top that is taxed at the higher rate.  (You can see this in the chart above.)  So if, for example, your taxable income ends up being $91,160, you'll be in the 28% tax bracket, but only $10 of your income will be taxed at 28%.  The rest will be taxed at 25% or lower.  As a result, this probably isn't worth worrying about too much. A bit more explanation, requested by the OP: Here is how to understand the numbers in the tax bracket chart.  Let's take a look at the second line, $9,276-$37,650.  The tax rate is explained as "$927.50 plus 15% of the amount over $9,275."  The first $9,275 of your taxable income is taxed at a 10% rate.  So if your total taxable income falls between $9,276 and $37,650, the first $9,275 is taxed at 10% (a tax of $927.50) and the amount over $9,275 is taxed at 15%.  On each line of the chart, the amount of tax from all the previous brackets is carried down, so you don't have to calculate it. When I said that you have at least $10,350 in deductions and exemptions, I got that number from the standard deduction and the personal exemption amount.  For 2016, the standard deduction for single taxpayers is $6,300.  (If you itemize your deductions, you might be able to deduct more.)  Personal exemptions for 2016 are at $4,050 per person.  That means you get to reduce your taxable income by $4,050 for each person in your household.  Since you are single with no dependents, your standard deduction plus the personal exemption for yourself will result in a reduction of at least $10,350 on your taxable income.