When Do Businesses Pay Taxes: Quarterly, Payroll, and Annual Deadlines

Businesses pay taxes on several overlapping schedules across the year, not in a single annual event. When businesses pay taxes depends on what kind of tax it is: income tax moves in four estimated installments, payroll tax deposits land monthly or semi-weekly if you have employees, federal unemployment tax is deposited quarterly once it crosses a threshold, sales tax follows a state-assigned frequency, and the annual return reconciles everything in March or April depending on your entity type. The IRS runs a pay-as-you-go system, and each schedule has its own deadlines and its own penalties for missing them.

Quarterly Estimated Income Tax

If your business income isn’t subject to withholding, you pay income tax in four installments through the year. Sole proprietors, partners, and S corporation shareholders use Form 1040-ES and must make estimated payments if they expect to owe $1,000 or more after withholding and credits.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS FAQs – Estimated Tax for Individuals C corporations face the same rule at a $500 threshold.2Internal Revenue Service. Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Corporations Penalty

The four payment periods for individuals don’t split evenly into calendar quarters. The second period only covers two months.3Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Taxes

  • April 15 — for income earned January 1 through March 31.
  • June 15 — for income earned April 1 through May 31.
  • September 15 — for income earned June 1 through August 31.
  • January 15 of the following year — for income earned September 1 through December 31.

When a deadline falls on a weekend or federal holiday, it shifts to the next business day.4Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Tax FAQ for Individuals

Those payments cover both income tax and self-employment tax. Sole proprietors and partners owe self-employment tax at a combined 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security on earnings up to $184,500 in 2026, and 2.9% for Medicare on all net earnings.5Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes)6Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base You calculate it on Schedule SE and include it in each estimated payment. First-year owners often underestimate because self-employment tax sits on top of income tax.

C corporations run on a different quarterly schedule. Their estimated payments are due in the 4th, 6th, 9th, and 12th months of the tax year. For a calendar-year corporation, the fourth payment falls on December 15, not January 15, which puts two installments only three months apart in September and December.7Internal Revenue Service. Publication 509 (2026), Tax Calendars

How Much to Send to Avoid a Penalty

Underpayment is charged at the federal short-term rate plus three percentage points, applied to whatever you underpaid for the period it went unpaid.8Internal Revenue Service. Quarterly Interest Rates Two safe harbors avoid it: pay at least 90% of what you owe for the current year, or pay 100% of what you owed last year. If your prior-year adjusted gross income exceeded $150,000 ($75,000 if married filing separately), the prior-year safe harbor rises to 110%.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS FAQs – Estimated Tax for Individuals Owners with uneven income usually find the prior-year method simpler because the number is already known.

State estimated taxes often mirror the federal schedule but not always. Check your state revenue department for its own dates and thresholds.

Payroll Tax Deposits if You Have Employees

Hiring your first employee rewrites your tax calendar. You withhold federal income tax and the employee’s share of Social Security and Medicare, pay the employer match, and deposit all of it electronically — the IRS doesn’t accept mailed checks for these.9Internal Revenue Service. Depositing and Reporting Employment Taxes

The IRS assigns you to a monthly or semi-weekly deposit schedule based on your Form 941 liability during the twelve-month lookback period ending the prior June 30.10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 757, Forms 941 and 944 – Deposit Requirements

Monthly Schedule

If your lookback liability was $50,000 or less, you’re a monthly depositor for the full calendar year. Taxes accumulated in one month are due by the 15th of the next month. Taxes withheld in October, for example, are due by November 15. New businesses with no lookback history start out monthly by default.10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 757, Forms 941 and 944 – Deposit Requirements

Semi-Weekly Schedule

If your lookback liability exceeded $50,000, you’re on the semi-weekly schedule, which keys off payday:

The $100,000 Next-Day Rule

Regardless of your normal schedule, if you accumulate $100,000 or more of payroll tax liability on any single day, the full amount is due the next business day. Hitting that threshold also moves you to the semi-weekly schedule for the rest of the current calendar year and all of the following one.11eCFR. 26 CFR 31.6302-1 – Deposit Rules for Taxes Under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) and Withheld Income Taxes

Federal Unemployment Tax

FUTA runs on its own schedule, separate from Form 941 deposits. You report it annually on Form 940, due January 31 of the following year. But if your cumulative FUTA liability tops $500 in any quarter, you must deposit it by the end of the month after that quarter closes:

  • First quarter (through March 31) — deposit by April 30.
  • Second quarter (through June 30) — deposit by July 31.
  • Third quarter (through September 30) — deposit by October 31.
  • Fourth quarter (through December 31) — deposit by January 31.

If liability stays at $500 or less in a quarter, you carry it forward until the cumulative total crosses the threshold.12Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 940 (2025) State unemployment taxes follow their own schedules and rates, which don’t necessarily line up with the federal FUTA calendar.

Sales and Use Tax

Sales tax is transactional: you collect it from customers and remit it to the state or local jurisdiction. Schedules are set entirely by the state, not the IRS.

When you register for a sales tax permit, the state assigns your filing frequency based on expected sales volume, and it can reassign you as actual collections come in. High-volume sellers typically file monthly. Small and mid-size businesses are more often quarterly. Very low-volume sellers may qualify to file annually. Quarterly deadlines usually land about a month after each calendar quarter ends, but exact dates vary by state and are independent of your federal calendar.

Use tax is the companion obligation for goods you bought without the seller collecting sales tax, often from out-of-state vendors. If you store or use those goods in your state, you owe use tax on them, and the payment schedule generally matches whatever sales tax frequency the state assigned.

Annual Income Tax Return Deadlines

Estimated payments cover tax through the year. The annual return reconciles income, deductions, credits, and what you already paid. The due date depends on your entity.

March 15: S Corporations and Partnerships

Calendar-year S corporations file Form 1120-S and partnerships file Form 1065, both due March 15. Neither entity pays income tax at the business level; the return produces Schedule K-1 forms that pass income through to each owner’s personal return. The March deadline gives owners their K-1s in time to file by April 15. Both entity types can file Form 7004 for an automatic six-month extension to September 15.13Internal Revenue Service. About Form 7004, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File Certain Business Income Tax, Information, and Other Returns Extending usually delays K-1 delivery, which often forces owners to extend their personal returns as well.

April 15: Sole Proprietors and C Corporations

Sole proprietors report business income on Schedule C with Form 1040, due April 15.14Internal Revenue Service. About Schedule C (Form 1040) C corporations file Form 1120, also due April 15 for calendar-year filers.15Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1120, U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return C corporations use Form 7004 to extend six months to October 15,16Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 7004 and individuals use Form 4868 to extend to the same date.17Internal Revenue Service. Get an Extension to File Your Tax Return

An Extension Isn’t an Extension to Pay

Filing an extension buys time for paperwork, not for payment. Any tax owed is still due by the original March 15 or April 15 date. Underpayment triggers a failure-to-pay penalty of 0.5% of the unpaid balance per month, up to 25%, running from the original due date even if the extension was filed on time. Interest accrues on top.18Internal Revenue Service. Failure to Pay Penalty

Other Recurring Tax Obligations

Several other taxes hit the calendar outside the federal income and payroll system. Property taxes on real estate and business equipment are assessed by county or municipal governments and typically fall annually or semi-annually on dates set by the local jurisdiction.

Excise taxes apply to specific goods and activities, including fuel, alcohol, tobacco, and certain manufacturing. Filing frequency ranges from monthly to annually depending on the tax and your volume.

Many states also charge a franchise tax or annual report fee to keep a business in good standing. The due date is often tied to the anniversary of incorporation or a fixed statutory date. Missing it isn’t only a penalty issue: some states administratively dissolve the entity for non-payment, which can expose owners who thought their corporate structure shielded them personally.