To do your quarterly taxes, estimate your total federal tax for the year, subtract any withholding and credits, split the rest into four installments, and send each one to the IRS by its due date. You’re generally required to make these payments if you expect to owe $1,000 or more after withholding.1Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Tax – FAQs The math has two parts (income tax and self-employment tax), and the IRS gives you a worksheet on Form 1040-ES to walk through both.
Do You Actually Have to Pay Quarterly
The trigger is expecting to owe at least $1,000 for the year after subtracting withholding and refundable credits. That sweeps in most freelancers, sole proprietors, partners, and S corporation shareholders, along with anyone with meaningful investment or rental income that isn’t being withheld on.1Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Tax – FAQs
Two escape hatches are worth knowing before you start calculating.
If your tax liability last year was zero, you owe no estimated payments this year, whatever you expect to earn.2Internal Revenue Service. Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals Penalty And if you also earn W-2 wages, you can file a new Form W-4 asking your employer to withhold extra from each paycheck to cover the tax on your side income. The IRS treats withholding as if it were paid evenly across the year, so this can replace estimated payments entirely.3Internal Revenue Service. Pay As You Go, So You Won’t Owe: A Guide to Withholding, Estimated Taxes and Ways to Avoid the Estimated Tax Penalty
Safe Harbors That Prevent a Penalty
Even if you’ll owe more than $1,000, you avoid the underpayment penalty if your payments during the year hit one of these thresholds:
- 90% of this year’s total tax, or
- 100% of last year’s total tax (110% if your prior-year adjusted gross income was over $150,000, or $75,000 if married filing separately).
The prior-year figure is the easier target to aim at because it’s a known number from last year’s return. The 90% current-year test only helps if your income is predictable.2Internal Revenue Service. Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals Penalty
Farmers and fishermen have a different schedule entirely: if at least two-thirds of your gross income comes from farming or fishing, you make one payment on January 15 of the following year, or you can skip estimated payments if you file and pay in full by March 1.4Internal Revenue Service. Farmers and Fishermen
2026 Payment Due Dates
The year splits into four income periods, and each has its own payment deadline. The periods aren’t equal three-month blocks, which surprises people who assume each installment covers a quarter of the calendar:
- January 1 through March 31: payment due April 15, 2026
- April 1 through May 31: payment due June 15, 2026
- June 1 through August 31: payment due September 15, 2026
- September 1 through December 31: payment due January 15, 2027
When a due date falls on a weekend or federal holiday, it shifts to the next business day. None of the 2026 dates fall on a weekend.1Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Tax – FAQs
How to Calculate What You Owe
Form 1040-ES contains the worksheet the IRS wants you to use. You’ll need your expected gross income, deductions, credits, and any withholding for the year. Most people start from last year’s return and adjust.5Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals
The total has two pieces. Calculate each, add them together, subtract expected withholding and credits, and divide the remainder by four.
Income Tax
Start with expected gross income for the year. Subtract the larger of your itemized deductions or the standard deduction. For 2026, the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household.6Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
If you’re self-employed, also subtract half of your self-employment tax (calculated below) and, if eligible, the qualified business income deduction, which allows eligible business owners to deduct up to 20% of qualified business income.7Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax Apply the 2026 tax brackets to your taxable income and subtract any credits you expect to claim.
Self-Employment Tax
Self-employment tax covers the Social Security and Medicare contributions an employer would normally split with you. Because you’re both sides, the combined rate is 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare.8Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
The rate applies to 92.35% of your net self-employment earnings, not the full amount. The 12.4% Social Security portion stops at $184,500 of earnings in 2026. The 2.9% Medicare portion has no cap.9Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet High earners pay an additional 0.9% Medicare tax on self-employment income above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly).10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 560, Additional Medicare Tax
Don’t forget the deduction: you can subtract half of your self-employment tax when figuring your adjusted gross income, regardless of whether you itemize.7Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax
When Your Income Is Uneven
Dividing by four assumes your income arrives evenly, which for a lot of self-employed people isn’t true. If you earn $15,000 in the first quarter and $80,000 in the fourth, paying the same amount in April as in January can leave you overpaid early or scrambling late.
The annualized income installment method lets you size each payment to the income you’ve actually earned so far. You calculate it on Schedule AI (part of Form 2210), which looks at cumulative income through each period (January–March, January–May, January–August, and the full year), annualizes it, and sets a required installment. If you use this method for one period, you have to use it for all four.11Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2210 (2025)
How to Send the Payment
The IRS accepts estimated payments through several channels. The cheapest options are the electronic ones from a bank account.
IRS Direct Pay
Direct Pay moves money from your checking or savings account to the IRS at no cost. No registration needed. You enter your bank details, pick the tax year and form type, and submit. Save the confirmation number as your receipt.12Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay With Bank Account
EFTPS
The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System is also free and lets you schedule payments up to 365 days in advance, so you can queue all four quarterly payments at once. Enrollment is one-time but requires a PIN sent by mail, so start well before your first deadline. EFTPS keeps 15 months of payment history and sends email notifications.13Internal Revenue Service. EFTPS: The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System
Credit or Debit Card
Card payments go through IRS-approved processors and carry fees. Debit is a flat fee of roughly $2.10 to $2.15. Credit runs 1.75% to 1.85% of the payment, with a $2.50 minimum. On a $5,000 payment, credit card fees come to about $87 to $92.14Internal Revenue Service. Pay Your Taxes by Debit or Credit Card or Digital Wallet
Check by Mail
Make the check payable to “United States Treasury.” Write your Social Security number and “2026 Form 1040-ES” on the check, and include the payment voucher from Form 1040-ES for the quarter you’re paying.15Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Form 1040-ES – Estimated Tax for Individuals The IRS treats a mailed payment as on time based on the postmark, so certified mail gives you proof if a payment goes missing.
If You Underpay
Miss a safe harbor and the IRS charges a penalty that behaves like interest on the shortfall. The rate resets quarterly and equals the federal short-term rate plus three points. As of early 2026, that’s 7%.16Internal Revenue Service. Quarterly Interest Rates
The penalty runs separately for each period. Underpay in the first quarter and catch up in the second, and you only owe on the first-quarter gap, calculated from its due date until the shortfall was covered (or until April 15 of the following year). Form 2210 handles the math, though the IRS will often calculate it for you and send a bill.17Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6654 – Failure by Individual to Pay Estimated Income Tax
Waivers exist in narrow situations. If a federally declared disaster prevented on-time payment, the IRS often applies relief automatically based on county. For other unusual circumstances, file Form 2210 with documentation. And if you turned 62 and retired, or became disabled, during the tax year or the one before, and the underpayment was for reasonable cause, you can check box A on Form 2210 and attach proof.18Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2210 – Waiver of Penalty
Two Things Not to Forget
Federal payments aren’t the whole picture. Most states with an income tax require their own estimated payments, with thresholds ranging from about $100 to $1,000 depending on the state, and deadlines that usually but not always mirror the federal ones. Check your state tax agency separately.
Keep a record of each payment: the confirmation number for electronic payments, the certified mail receipt for checks, plus the date, amount, and method. You’ll use these to claim credit on your annual return, and they’re the evidence you need if the IRS loses track of a payment or assesses a penalty you want to dispute.