The income tax system is pay as you go. You are supposed to pay taxes in roughly equal installments, either through paycheck withholding, or through quarterly estimated payments, which are due in April, June, September, and January for the previous year. If you fail to pay taxes on a lump sum of income when it is earned, you will likely may owe an underpayment penalty, even if you pay in full when you file your taxes by April 15 of the following year.
The underpayment penalty is approximately 1% per month so it may exceed any investment gains you expect to get. (Actually 0.5% per month as a penalty, plus interest at a variable rate which is current around 6% APR, so 1% per month is a close estimate.)
However, the default formula for calculating penalties assumes that taxes and income are spread out equally through the year. If you receive a $1000 lump sum bonus in March, for which you expect the taxes would be $250, you can probably avoid the penalty if you paid $62 on April 15, $63 on June 15, $62 on September 15, and the remaining $63 on January 15, 2024, (instead of paying all $250 on April 15.)
