You Are Being Paid on a Base Pay, Commission, and Bonus

Essay

You are being paid on a base pay, commission, and bonus incentive compensation package. The economy can have a lot to do with how much you earn in a year as well as your personal efforts to improve sales and increase your customer base. Your employer is very flexible as to when and how it makes incentive payments to you. For instance, it can switch between bonus and pension contributions as well as provide you with stock purchases and delay bonus disbursements until the new calendar year.
Recent forecasts indicate that the economy will slow down next year and you have a sizable commission cheque and bonus payments owed to you this year. Under these circumstances, what would be your tax planning tactics to reduce taxes?