How to Estimate Quarterly Taxes: 2026 Rates, Due Dates, and Methods

To estimate your quarterly taxes, project your 2026 tax bill, then pay it in four installments equal to the smaller of two safe-harbor amounts: 100% of last year’s total tax (110% if your 2025 AGI topped $150,000) or 90% of what you expect to owe this year. Learning how to estimate quarterly taxes comes down to picking whichever of those two numbers is lower, dividing by four, and sending the payments on time.

Do You Actually Owe Quarterly Payments

You need to make estimated payments for 2026 only if both of these are true: you expect to owe at least $1,000 in federal tax after withholding and refundable credits, and your withholding and credits will cover less than the smaller of 90% of your 2026 tax or 100% of your 2025 tax (110% if 2025 AGI exceeded $150,000, or $75,000 if married filing separately).¹ Clear either bar and no penalty applies, even if you skip quarterly payments entirely.

The income that usually triggers the requirement is self-employment earnings, freelance and gig work, interest, dividends, rental income, capital gains, and alimony.² If a W-2 job withholds enough to cover your full liability, you likely don’t need to file estimates at all.

One full exemption: if your 2025 return showed zero tax liability, you were a U.S. citizen or resident all year, and 2025 covered a full 12 months, you owe no estimated tax for 2026.³

The Two Formulas You Can Choose Between

Federal law gives you two ways to figure the required annual payment, and you can use whichever produces the lower number. Pay at least that amount, split into four equal installments, and you avoid an underpayment penalty regardless of how your actual tax turns out.³

Method 1: Match Last Year’s Tax

Take the total tax from your 2025 Form 1040 and pay that same amount across your 2026 installments. No projection needed. Match last year’s number and you’re safe from penalties whatever this year looks like.⁴

Higher earners pay a surcharge on the safe harbor. If your 2025 AGI was above $150,000 ($75,000 if married filing separately), you must pay 110% of last year’s tax, not 100%.³ So a 2025 tax of $20,000 with $180,000 AGI produces a $22,000 safe harbor, or $5,500 per quarter.

This method is the simpler route when your income is stable or rising. It can cost you cash flow if your income has dropped, since you’d be prepaying against a bill you no longer owe.

Method 2: Project This Year and Pay 90%

When you expect to earn less than last year, project your 2026 tax and pay 90% of it.³ This takes more work because you’re forecasting income, deductions, and credits. The Estimated Tax Worksheet in Form 1040-ES walks the calculation and ends with the quarterly amount on line 15.⁵

The steps:

Estimate adjusted gross income. Total all expected income, then subtract above-the-line deductions, including half of your self-employment tax.
Subtract your deduction. For 2026 the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married filing jointly, or use your projected itemized total.⁶
Apply the 2026 brackets to taxable income.
Add self-employment tax if it applies.
Subtract expected credits.
Multiply the result by 90%.
Divide by four for each quarterly installment.

Compare that figure to the prior-year safe harbor and use whichever is smaller. That keeps your cash outlay as low as possible while still avoiding penalties.

The 2026 Rates You Plug In

Federal Income Tax Brackets

The 2026 brackets for single filers and married filing jointly are:⁶

10%: up to $12,400 single / $24,800 joint
12%: $12,401–$50,400 / $24,801–$100,800
22%: $50,401–$105,700 / $100,801–$211,400
24%: $105,701–$201,775 / $211,401–$403,550
32%: $201,776–$256,225 / $403,551–$512,450
35%: $256,226–$640,600 / $512,451–$768,700
37%: over $640,600 / over $768,700

These rates are marginal. Each rate applies only to income within that bracket, not to your full income.

Self-Employment Tax

Working for yourself adds 15.3% self-employment tax on net earnings: 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare.⁷ The Social Security portion applies only to the first $184,500 of net self-employment earnings for 2026; Medicare has no cap.⁸

Before the 15.3% is applied, the 1040-ES worksheet reduces your net self-employment income by 7.65% to account for the employer-equivalent share. You can then deduct half your total self-employment tax when figuring AGI, which lowers your income tax too.⁹ Both adjustments are built into the worksheet.⁵

Add-Ons for Higher Incomes

Two additional taxes may fold into your estimate. The Additional Medicare Tax adds 0.9% on earnings over $200,000.¹⁰ The Net Investment Income Tax adds 3.8% on investment income (interest, dividends, capital gains, rental income) once modified AGI exceeds $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for joint filers.¹¹ Add them into your projection when they apply.

When the Payments Are Due

The four “quarters” don’t cover equal calendar quarters. The 2026 deadlines are:¹²

Q1 (income earned Jan 1–Mar 31): April 15, 2026
Q2 (Apr 1–May 31): June 16, 2026
Q3 (Jun 1–Aug 31): September 15, 2026
Q4 (Sep 1–Dec 31): January 15, 2027

Deadlines falling on a weekend or legal holiday roll to the next business day.¹² Missing a deadline can trigger interest even if your full-year return ends in a refund.

If Your Income Is Uneven or Seasonal

Equal quarterly payments assume steady income. When most of your money arrives in one part of the year (a summer-heavy business, a late-year capital gain), splitting the annual number four ways can overstate what you owe for early quarters. The annualized income installment method lets you size each installment to the income actually earned by that point in the year, cutting or eliminating penalties on the earlier ones.¹³

You elect the method by completing Schedule AI (part of Form 2210) with your return. Once you use it for any period, you must use it for all four.¹⁴ The math is heavier than the equal-payment approach, but worth it when income is back-loaded.

What Underpayment Costs

Pay too little by a quarterly deadline and the IRS charges a penalty that works like interest on the shortfall. The individual underpayment rate was 7% per year, compounded daily, at the start of 2026.¹⁵ It dropped to 6% starting April 1, 2026.¹⁶ The rate resets each quarter based on the federal short-term rate.

The penalty is calculated separately for each installment, running from its due date until the shortfall is paid or the return is due, whichever comes first. Meeting either safe harbor eliminates it entirely.

Waivers are narrow. You may qualify if you retired after age 62 or became disabled during the current or prior tax year and the underpayment was due to reasonable cause. A waiver is also available when a casualty, disaster, or other unusual circumstance would make the penalty unfair.¹⁴ Taxpayers in federally declared disaster areas typically get relief automatically.

How to Send the Payment

Every payment ties to your Social Security number or EIN and to a specific tax period. The main options:

IRS Direct Pay. Free bank transfer, no account setup, bank details entered each time.¹⁷
Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). Requires enrollment before your first payment, then supports scheduling in advance.¹⁸
Credit or debit card through authorized third-party processors (Pay1040 and ACI Payments). Credit card fees run 1.75–1.85% of the payment, with a $2.50 minimum.¹⁹
Check or money order with the payment voucher from Form 1040-ES. Include your Social Security number, daytime phone number, and the tax year on the payment.

Every electronic payment generates a confirmation number. Save it in case a payment is later questioned.

If You End Up Overpaying

When your installments add up to more than your final tax, you can either take a refund or apply the overpayment to next year’s estimated taxes when you file.¹ Rolling it forward can absorb part or all of your April installment for the following year.

Two Situations With Different Rules

Farmers and fishermen (those with at least two-thirds of gross income from farming or fishing) follow a simplified schedule: one payment by January 15 of the following year, sized at the smaller of 66⅔% of the current year’s tax or 100% of the prior year’s.²⁰³ You can also skip estimated payments entirely by filing and paying in full by March 1 of the following year.

State estimated tax rules are separate from the federal ones. Most states with an income tax also require quarterly payments, but the minimum triggers vary, some states use percentage or income-based tests instead of a flat dollar threshold, and a few don’t require quarterly payments at all. Deadlines don’t always match the federal calendar, so check your state revenue department’s rules directly.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Tax
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6654
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