4th Quarter Estimated Tax Payment: Deadline, Payment Methods, Waivers

The fourth quarter estimated tax payment due date for the 2026 tax year is January 15, 2027, a Friday, so no weekend or holiday shift applies. There’s a useful alternative worth knowing before you cut a check: if you file your complete 2026 return and pay everything you owe by January 31, 2027, you can skip the January 15 installment entirely with no penalty.¹

The January 31 Filing Alternative

Federal law provides that no penalty applies to the fourth quarter installment if you file your return and pay the full balance by January 31.¹ The IRS confirms this in Publication 505.²

This works well when your fourth quarter income is modest, the remaining balance is small, or you already have every document you need in hand. It doesn’t work if you’re waiting on brokerage statements or K-1s that show up in February or March. January 31 is a tight turnaround for a complete return, and a return filed by that date has to be accurate, not just filed.

Figuring the Fourth Quarter Amount

The fourth quarter payment isn’t one-quarter of your annual tax bill. It’s a true-up: whatever you still need to reach a safe harbor target after accounting for withholding and the three payments you already made. The worksheet in Form 1040-ES walks through the calculation.³

Estimate your total income, deductions, and credits for the year to arrive at your expected tax. Subtract your total withholding. Subtract the three estimated payments you’ve already made. The remainder is what to send by January 15. If a business sale, a large consulting project, or year-end capital gains pushed your income up late in the year, that final installment can be several times bigger than the earlier ones.

Two safe harbor targets protect you from an underpayment penalty: 90% of the current year’s tax, or 100% of the prior year’s tax. If your prior-year adjusted gross income was over $150,000 ($75,000 if married filing separately), the prior-year figure rises to 110%.⁴

Uneven Income and the Annualized Method

If your income arrived unevenly across the year, the Annualized Income Installment Method calculates each quarter’s required payment based on income actually received through that point, rather than assuming a steady flow.⁵ This matters for seasonal businesses, real estate agents with back-loaded commissions, and anyone who realized a large capital gain late in the year. You run the numbers on Schedule AI within Form 2210, filed with your annual return. For the fourth quarter, your cumulative payments need to cover 100% of the annualized tax through year-end; subtract what you paid across the first three quarters, and the remainder is your required Q4 installment.

How to Pay

The IRS accepts several payment methods for individuals, and the options have shifted recently.

IRS Online Account

Your IRS Online Account at IRS.gov/Account is now the primary hub for individual payments. You can pay directly from a checking or savings account, view your balance and payment history, and schedule payments in advance, all without fees.³

IRS Direct Pay

Direct Pay lets you make a one-time payment from your bank account with no registration and no fee. It’s also available through the IRS2Go mobile app.⁶

EFTPS

The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System is a free Treasury service that lets you schedule payments up to 365 days in advance. The IRS no longer accepts new EFTPS enrollments for individual taxpayers. Existing individual users can continue using their accounts; new individual users should turn to IRS Online Account or Direct Pay. Business taxpayers can still enroll.⁷

Card and Digital Wallet

You can pay by credit card, debit card, or digital wallet (PayPal, Venmo, Click to Pay) through IRS-authorized processors. These carry convenience fees. Debit card payments run roughly $2.10 to $2.15 per transaction. Credit card fees range from about 1.75% to 2.95% of the payment amount depending on the processor and card type.⁸ None of that fee goes to the IRS.

Check or Money Order

Mail a check or money order with the payment voucher from Form 1040-ES. Make it payable to “United States Treasury” and write your name, Social Security number, the tax year, and “Form 1040-ES” on the payment. Send it to the address listed in the 1040-ES instructions for your state; the wrong processing center delays posting.³

If You Miss January 15

Miss the deadline and skip the January 31 filing option, and the IRS charges an interest-based penalty on the underpaid amount. Interest runs from the installment due date until you pay it or file your return, whichever is earlier.⁹

The rate is the federal short-term rate plus three percentage points, reset quarterly.¹⁰ For the first quarter of 2026, the underpayment rate is 7% annually, compounded daily.¹¹ That’s modest on one quarter’s shortfall but adds up quickly across periods, and the IRS charges interest on the penalty itself.

You compute the penalty on Form 2210, filed with your annual return. Tax software handles this automatically, which matters because the math tracks separate underpayment periods with different start dates.⁹

Waivers

The IRS can waive the underpayment penalty for a casualty, disaster, or other unusual circumstance. A waiver is also available if you retired after reaching age 62 or became disabled during the tax year or the year before, if you had reasonable cause for the shortfall.⁹

One boundary worth knowing: the IRS’s First Time Abatement program does not apply to estimated tax underpayment penalties. That relief covers failure-to-file, failure-to-pay, and failure-to-deposit penalties, but estimated tax penalties fall under a different statute.¹²

Farmers and Fishermen

If at least two-thirds of your gross income comes from farming or fishing in either the current or prior year, the rules differ. You can skip quarterly installments entirely by making a single estimated payment by January 15, or avoid estimated payments altogether by filing your return and paying all tax owed by March 1. For the 2026 tax year, that filing-and-paying deadline is March 1, 2027. Your current-year safe harbor also drops to 66⅔% of the current year’s tax (versus 90% for other filers).¹³

State Payments Are Separate

If you live in a state with an income tax, you likely owe state estimated tax as well. Most states track the federal quarterly schedule, but due dates, safe harbor percentages, and penalty rates vary. State underpayment interest rates range from around 3% to well over 10% annually. A missed state deadline generates its own penalty, so check your state tax agency’s site for the exact date and rules that apply to you.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6654 – Failure by Individual To Pay Estimated Income Tax
2
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 505 (2025), Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax
3
Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Form 1040-ES
4
Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Taxes
5
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2210 (2025)
6
Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay with Bank Account
7
Internal Revenue Service. EFTPS: The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System
8
Internal Revenue Service. Pay Your Taxes by Debit or Credit Card or Digital Wallet
9
Internal Revenue Service. Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals Penalty
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6621 – Determination of Rate of Interest
11
Internal Revenue Service. Interest Rates Remain the Same for the First Quarter of 2026
12
Internal Revenue Service. Administrative Penalty Relief
13
Internal Revenue Service. Farming and Fishing Income