Estimated tax · Tax year 2027 payments

Quarterly Estimated Tax Calculator: Four Payments, Estimated

Estimated tax is paid in four instalments, due April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 of the following year, across payment periods that are not equal quarters. This calculator estimates your year from your expected self-employment income, splits what withholding does not cover into four equal payments on the 2027 due dates, and offers a calendar file with your amounts that you can save yourself.

Last reviewed: November 4, 2026.

Coming deadline for the current year: the fourth estimated payment for tax year 2026 is due Friday, January 15, 2027. That payment is figured on your 2026 income. The calculator below plans the tax year 2027 payments, which are made during 2027 and in January 2028.

The 2027 payment dates

Estimated tax payment periods and due dates for tax year 2027 (IRS, Publication 505)
Payment	For income earned	Due date
First	January 1 to March 31, 2027	Thursday, April 15, 2027
Second	April 1 to May 31, 2027	Tuesday, June 15, 2027
Third	June 1 to August 31, 2027	Wednesday, September 15, 2027
Fourth	September 1 to December 31, 2027	Tuesday, January 18, 2028

The fourth date is the one to watch. The standing date is January 15, but January 15, 2028 falls on a Saturday, and the following Monday, January 17, 2028, is the Martin Luther King Jr. Day federal holiday. The IRS rule, stated in its estimated tax guidance, is that if a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the payment is on time if it is made on the next day that is none of those. That makes the fourth payment due on Tuesday, January 18, 2028. One exception belongs with the January payment: if you file your 2027 return by January 31, 2028 and pay the full balance due with it, the January payment is not required, per Publication 505.

This page estimates with the tax year 2026 rates, brackets, standard deductions, and the $184,500 Social Security wage base, the most recent figures verified against IRS sources for this site. Estimated payments are very commonly figured from the year you know, and the safe harbour rules below exist for exactly that situation. The page is updated when newer figures are checked.

Checked against IRS sources · Reviewed November 4, 2026

The quarterly estimated tax calculator

Filing status Expected net self-employment income for the year (dollars)

Your expected business profit after expenses. Use the year you are planning for. If the business may lose money, enter 0; losses belong to the full return, which this estimate does not model.

W-2 wages expected for the year (dollars, optional)

Wages subject to Social Security tax, Box 3 of the W-2 when you have one. They use the Social Security wage base first and count as income in the estimate.

Other income expected for the year (dollars, optional) Tax you expect to have withheld during the year (dollars, optional)

Withholding from a job, yours or a spouse's on a joint return, counts against the year's tax before estimated payments are figured. Some self-employed people raise withholding at a household job instead of sending separate payments; the safe harbour section below explains why withholding is treated more kindly than a late payment.

Last year's return (optional, for the safe harbour figures) Total tax on last year's return (dollars, optional) Last year's adjusted gross income

The prior year safe harbour is 100 percent of last year's total tax, or 110 percent if last year's adjusted gross income was over $150,000. Leave the tax blank and the calculator shows the current year figures only.

Estimated payment: $0 on each of the four due dates.

Estimated total federal tax for the year: $0
of which, estimated self-employment tax: $0
of which, estimated federal income tax: $0
Expected withholding you entered: $0
Amount to cover with estimated payments: $0

Your four estimated payments for tax year 2027
For income earned	Due date	Estimated payment
January 1 to March 31, 2027	Thursday, April 15, 2027	$0
April 1 to May 31, 2027	Tuesday, June 15, 2027	$0
June 1 to August 31, 2027	Wednesday, September 15, 2027	$0
September 1 to December 31, 2027	Tuesday, January 18, 2028	$0

The calendar file is created in your browser from the figures above and saved by you. Nothing is sent to us, and this site keeps no copy of it.

Estimate only. General information, not tax advice. Your return decides the actual figures.

Estimate only. This tool gives a general estimate based on the figures you entered and the published IRS rules cited on this page. It is not tax advice, it is not a tax return, and it cannot be relied on to avoid any tax penalty. Tax law and IRS guidance change. Confirm your figures against the current IRS instructions for the form you file, or ask a qualified tax professional.

Nothing you enter is sent anywhere. The calculation runs in your browser.

last year's tax is the usual anchor

The safe harbour rules, in plain words

The IRS charges a penalty when too little tax is paid by each due date, even if a refund comes at filing time. The published ways to stay clear of that charge are called safe harbours. Stated generally, from the IRS estimated tax guidance and Publication 505, paying on time at least the smallest of these amounts for the year is what the rules look for:

90 percent of this year's tax. The tax that will be shown on the current year's return, which nobody knows exactly in advance. That is why the other two exist.
100 percent of last year's tax. The total tax shown on the prior year's return, provided that return covered a full 12 months. This figure is known on the first payment date, which is its whole value.
110 percent of last year's tax, if last year's adjusted gross income was over $150,000 (over $75,000 if married filing separately). The higher percentage replaces the 100 percent figure at that income level.

Two further rules from Publication 505 matter in practice. First, withholding is treated differently from estimated payments: tax withheld from wages is treated as paid evenly across all four due dates, whenever in the year it was actually withheld, unless you show otherwise. That is why raising withholding at a household job late in the year can cover an earlier shortfall, while a late estimated payment cannot be moved backwards. Second, the safe harbours are a floor for avoiding the charge, not a target for the tax itself: any balance left over is still due with the return. Which figure protects a particular filer depends on that filer's full return, and this page states the rules generally rather than deciding them for anyone.

If a payment is short or late

The IRS may charge a penalty for underpayment of estimated tax. It is figured separately for each payment period, on Form 2210, and it behaves like an interest charge: it is based on a federal rate that resets quarterly, it runs from the due date of the payment to the date the shortfall is made up or the return is filed, and it stops growing when the amount is paid. Paying a shortfall late therefore still reduces the charge compared with waiting for the return. This site does not compute the charge for any individual, because it depends on the payment history of the whole year; Form 2210 and Chapter 3 of Publication 505 carry the computation. Farmers and fishermen, and people whose income arrives in one part of the year, have special rules in the same publications.

How estimated payments are made

The IRS accepts estimated payments online through IRS Direct Pay and through a taxpayer's online account, by phone, through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, and by mail with a Form 1040-ES payment voucher. The options and their current instructions are on the IRS payments page at irs.gov. Paying online gives you a confirmation from the IRS itself; keep it with your records, because the payments are reported on the return and mismatches produce notices.

One neighbouring deadline is not moved by anything on this page. If the return itself cannot be filed by April, an extension of time to file is requested on Form 4868, and it moves the filing deadline only: the tax remains due in April, as the tax extension page sets out.

For the breakdown behind these payment amounts, the 1099 tax calculator shows the self-employment tax and the income tax separately, line by line, on the same figures.

Questions and answers

Are the four estimated payments really quarterly?

Not evenly. The IRS divides the year into four payment periods of three months, two months, three months, and four months, with due dates of April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 of the following year. The second payment follows the first by only two months, and the fourth covers a four month stretch. The dates table on this page shows the periods as the IRS defines them.

What if my income arrives unevenly during the year?

The equal split is the standard approach, and it is what this calculator shows. The IRS also publishes an annualized income installment method, worked out on Form 2210, under which each payment follows the income actually earned in that period instead. It suits seasonal and uneven income. Publication 505 explains both methods; this calculator does not compute the annualized method.

How small can the tax be before no payments are required?

The IRS states that estimated tax payments are generally required if you expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax for the year after subtracting your withholding and refundable credits, and you expect that withholding and credits to fall short of the safe harbour amounts. Under that $1,000 figure, payments are generally not required, though the tax itself is still due with the return.

Sources

IRS, Estimated Tax for Individuals (frequently asked questions), irs.gov. The four payment periods and due dates, the weekend and holiday rule quoted on this page, the $1,000 threshold after withholding and refundable credits, and the 90 percent, 100 percent, and 110 percent figures. Checked November 4, 2026.
IRS, Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax. The safe harbour rules in full, the treatment of withholding as paid evenly across the year, the January payment exception, and the underpayment penalty framework. Checked November 4, 2026.
IRS, Publication 509, Tax Calendars. The legal holidays for 2027 and 2028, including the Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. on the third Monday in January. Checked November 4, 2026.
IRS, Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax, and Revenue Procedure 2025-32. The self-employment tax figures and the 2026 rate thresholds and standard deductions used for the estimate, as set out on the 1099 tax calculator page. Checked November 4, 2026.

Last reviewed: November 4, 2026.