When Do You Have to Make Quarterly Tax Payments?

You have to make quarterly tax payments if you expect to owe at least $1,000 in federal income tax for the year after subtracting withholding and refundable credits.¹ For 2026, the four due dates are April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15, 2027. The system exists because federal tax is pay-as-you-go: you owe as you earn, and when nothing is being withheld from your income, you send the money in yourself.²

Who This Applies To

If you have a regular paycheck and your employer withholds enough tax, you generally don’t need to worry about estimated payments. The rule catches people whose income arrives without withholding: self-employment earnings, interest, dividends, rental income, alimony, and capital gains are the categories the IRS specifically names.³

Sole proprietors, partners in partnerships, and S corporation shareholders are the most common filers, because their business income flows through to their personal returns with no tax taken out at the business level.² Gig workers, freelancers, landlords, retirees whose pensions aren’t fully withheld, and investors living off portfolio income all fall in the same group.

One exception cuts you out of the requirement entirely. If you had zero tax liability for the previous year, were a U.S. citizen or resident for that whole year, and that year was a full 12 months, you don’t owe estimated payments for the current year at all.¹ This mostly helps people who had no income last year and started earning this year.

The 2026 Deadlines

The four payment windows for 2026 don’t split the year into equal quarters, which is where a lot of people get caught out.⁴

April 15, 2026, for income earned January 1 through March 31.
June 15, 2026, for income earned April 1 through May 31. That’s only a two-month window.
September 15, 2026, for income earned June 1 through August 31.
January 15, 2027, for income earned September 1 through December 31.

When a due date falls on a weekend or a legal holiday in the District of Columbia, it shifts to the next business day.⁴ None of the 2026 dates conflict, so all four stand as listed.

If you start earning non-withheld income partway through the year, you don’t have to backfill for quarters when you had no such income. You begin with the next deadline after the income starts.

Disaster Relief

Taxpayers in federally declared disaster areas often get automatic postponements. As one example, the IRS pushed deadlines for affected Washington state taxpayers to May 1, 2026, after severe storms in late 2025.⁵ Relief is applied automatically based on your address. If you’re outside the designated area but still affected, you can call the IRS disaster hotline at 866-562-5227 to request it.⁶

How Much You Need to Pay: Safe Harbor Rules

You avoid a penalty as long as your withholding plus quarterly payments hit the lesser of two targets:

90% of what you end up owing for the current year, or
100% of the total tax on your prior-year return, provided last year was a full 12-month year and you actually filed.¹

Higher earners face a stricter version of the prior-year rule. If your adjusted gross income last year exceeded $150,000, or $75,000 if you’re married filing separately, the 100% threshold jumps to 110% of your prior-year tax.¹ People miss this all the time. They pay 100% of last year’s tax, assume they’re covered, and then get a penalty notice.

Calculating Each Payment

Form 1040-ES contains a worksheet that walks you through the math. Start with an estimate of your adjusted gross income for the year, subtract expected deductions and credits, and arrive at a projected tax liability.³ Last year’s return is usually the easiest starting point, since income and deduction patterns tend to stay stable.

Subtract any withholding you expect from wages or pensions, then divide the remainder by four. That’s your quarterly installment. The 2026 Form 1040-ES, including the worksheet and payment vouchers, is available on the IRS website.⁷

Equal installments don’t fit everyone. If your income is seasonal or lumpy, the annualized income installment method lets you match each quarter’s payment to what you actually earned during that period.⁷ A real estate agent who closes most deals in summer, for example, would owe less for the first quarter and more for the third. You work this out on Schedule AI of Form 2210.⁸

How to Submit a Payment

The IRS accepts payments through several channels. Electronic options confirm receipt faster than paper.

IRS Direct Pay is a free bank transfer with no sign-up. You can schedule, change, or cancel a payment up to two business days out. Individual transactions are capped at $10 million.⁹
The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) requires enrollment but keeps a permanent history of all your payments, which is useful if you pay throughout the year on behalf of a business.¹⁰
Credit and debit card payments go through IRS-authorized third parties, which charge processing fees between 1.75% and 2.95%. None of the fee goes to the IRS.¹¹
By mail, send a check or money order with the voucher from Form 1040-ES to the IRS processing center listed for your state. Write “2026 Form 1040-ES” and your Social Security number on the check.⁷

What Underpayment Costs

The estimated tax “penalty” is really an interest charge. It applies to the underpaid amount for each quarter, running from the deadline for that installment through the date you pay or file your return.¹² It compounds daily, and the rate resets quarterly based on the federal short-term rate. For the first quarter of 2026, the rate is 7%.¹³ It drops to 6% for the second quarter beginning April 1, 2026.¹⁴

On a $10,000 underpayment at 7%, you’re looking at roughly $700 a year in interest, slightly higher with daily compounding. You can calculate the exact amount on Form 2210, though the IRS will figure it and send a bill if you don’t.¹⁵

Getting the Penalty Waived

The IRS can waive the penalty if the underpayment resulted from a casualty, disaster, or other unusual circumstance and imposing it would be unfair. Disaster-area taxpayers usually get relief automatically. Otherwise, you attach Form 2210 with a written explanation and supporting documentation to your return.⁶

A separate waiver covers taxpayers who retired after reaching age 62 or who became disabled during the tax year or the prior year, if the underpayment was due to reasonable cause rather than willful neglect.¹

Withholding as an Alternative

If you also have a regular job or receive a pension, you can raise the withholding on that income instead of sending quarterly checks. File a new Form W-4 with your employer requesting additional withholding, and the extra amount counts toward your total tax payments for the year.¹⁶

Withholding has one big practical advantage: the IRS treats it as paid evenly throughout the year, regardless of when it was actually taken. So if you realize in October that you’re behind on estimated taxes, bumping up withholding on your last few paychecks can retroactively cover earlier quarters. Estimated payments have to be made by each quarter’s deadline to count for that period.

Special Rule for Farmers and Fishermen

If at least two-thirds of your gross income comes from farming or fishing, you follow a simpler schedule. Instead of four deadlines, you make one estimated payment by January 15 of the following year. For the 2026 tax year, that means one payment by January 15, 2027. You can skip the estimated payment entirely if you file your 2026 return and pay everything owed by March 1, 2027.¹⁷ The safe harbor is also more forgiving: qualifying farmers and fishermen only need to cover two-thirds of their current-year tax rather than 90%.¹⁵

Don’t Forget State Payments

Federal payments are only half the picture. Most states with an income tax also require quarterly estimated payments, and the rules aren’t always identical. Thresholds, deadlines, and safe harbor percentages vary. Some states use a trigger below the federal $1,000 mark, and a few use different due dates than the federal schedule. Check your state’s department of revenue for the specifics.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6654 – Failure by Individual to Pay Estimated Income Tax
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Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Taxes
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Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals
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Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Tax
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Internal Revenue Service. IRS Announces Tax Relief for Taxpayers Impacted by Severe Storms in Washington State
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2210 (2025)
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 1040-ES – Estimated Tax for Individuals (2026)
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 2210 – Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals, Estates, and Trusts
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Internal Revenue Service. Direct Pay with Bank Account
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Internal Revenue Service. Pay Personal Taxes from Your Bank Account
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Internal Revenue Service. Pay Your Taxes by Debit or Credit Card or Digital Wallet
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Internal Revenue Service. Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals Penalty
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Internal Revenue Service. Interest Rates Remain the Same for the First Quarter of 2026
14
Internal Revenue Service. Internal Revenue Bulletin No. 2026-8
15
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2210 (2025)
16
Internal 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
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Internal Revenue Service. Farmers and Fishermen