Don’t even have to lie - “my expectation is $N” is a legal and ethical negotiation opener.

And it's really what most potential employers are looking for.

If they hire you and find out you lied, they might fire you. Some companies, particularly larger ones, will fire people for any lies on their job application or background check, as a matter of HR policy.

So, don't lie. Just refuse to tell them your salary history and talk about your expectations instead. If that negotiating approach causes you to lose that job opportunity then you were probably asking for more than they were willing to pay, and you probably weren't going to get it anyway.

Given that they are never going to go to your previous employer and ask them what you made, there's nothing to lose there. Anyone who does ask something like that isn't someone anyone wants to work for anyway.

Always add 10-20%. If they like you, they will offer you and you can negotiate from there.

They don't get the info from your previous employer, they get it from your previous payroll processor. Many payroll processing companies happily sell your financial history, which is made available to your new employer via most background check companies.

That was my first thought as well. Just decide what you want and tell them something in that ballpark. Why try to drag it out of them what they want to pay? Either they will meet your demand or not.

It's not even really a lie if you consider that any equity you may have has fuzzy value.

Lying seems wrong. But just say 'I'm looking for $n'.

I just say 5% less than what I want. Are they really going to sue me? Nope!

Why would you ask for less than what you want? You are most likely going to get an offer of less than whatever you ask for.

I think it's saying your current salary is five percent less than what you want for the new job?

They'd expect you to be wanting an increase in order to move?

Exactly that. It establishes both their willingness to outdo a previous offer and their generosity at the same time.

Once company didn't hire me.

I think, they believed me but weren't inclined to pay me that much.

This is almost as bad. You could still be leaving money on the table.