@Capt.Undies - Absolutely true. Flip side being that after year two, the tax bill should go down once the IRD realises that you earned USD200k less than they expected and you're actually just one of those iCadets who getting paid nothing. It will likely not be until year 4 that your tax bill will stabilise. Not great.
As for tax loans, as a CEP, I found it very difficult to manage as it just ate into my income and I could never get ahead. I got lucky in the casino one night (no joke) which allowed me to get off the tax loan merry go-round and now I religiously stash away each month to cover. Never want to take one of those things again.