Should I negotiate a lower salary to be placed in a lower tax bracket?
No.  In a marginal tax system, only additional dollars that push you into a higher bracket are taxed at that higher rate.  If you would pay 15% on $73800, then when you earn over $73800, you will still only pay 15% of the $73800, plus 25% of the extra amount over $73800.  As far as a marginal income tax affects things, you cannot decrease your net income by increasing your salary.  (There can be other potential reasons to keep your income down besides income taxes, as asked in this question, but as the answer there suggests, these often aren't great reasons either.) As far as I know, every income tax system that has differing tax rates works this way.  That is, I'm not aware of any country with an income tax system where you can decrease your net earnings by moving into a higher bracket.