Estimated Quarterly Taxes: Dates, Penalties, How to Pay

A simple starting point is to set aside 25–30% of your net profit for federal taxes, more if your state has income tax.

For a precise figure, estimate your full-year income, subtract deductions, and apply the safe-harbor rule. Our quarterly tax estimator does this in seconds.

Self-employed people should remember to include self-employment tax, which is separate from income tax.

Estimated taxes are just that — estimates. If you land a big client or have a slow quarter, you can adjust your remaining payments up or down.

The IRS calculates the penalty quarter by quarter, so it helps to recalculate when income shifts significantly rather than waiting until year end.

Keeping a percentage of every payment you receive in a separate account makes the quarterly payment painless.

The safe-harbor rule that prevents penalties

You can avoid an underpayment penalty even if you end up owing more in April, as long as you meet a "safe harbor". Generally, you are safe if you pay at least 90% of the current year's tax, or 100% of last year's tax (110% if your prior-year adjusted gross income was over $150,000), whichever is smaller.

The 2026 due dates

Estimated payments are due roughly mid-April, mid-June, mid-September, and mid-January of the following year. They are not evenly spaced, which catches people off guard — the second "quarter" is only two months after the first.

The IRS keeps the current schedule and payment options on its estimated taxes page, and you can pay directly through IRS payments.

How to calculate your payment

Your quarterly amount needs to cover both income tax and, for the self-employed, the 15.3% self-employment tax. The cleanest approach is to estimate your annual profit, compute the total tax, subtract any withholding from a W-2 job, and divide the rest by four.

Our quarterly tax estimator does this in seconds, and the self-employment tax calculator isolates the SE-tax portion if you want to see it separately.

What happens if you miss or underpay

The IRS charges an underpayment penalty calculated like interest on the shortfall, accruing from each missed due date. It is not catastrophic for a small miss, but it compounds, and it is entirely avoidable with the safe-harbor approach. If you have already fallen behind, our late filing & payment penalty calculator estimates the cost.

A note for S-corp owners

If your LLC is taxed as an S-corp, part of your income runs through payroll with withholding, which changes the estimated-tax math. See reasonable salary for an S-corp owner for how the salary/distribution split interacts with quarterly payments.