Quarterly estimated tax calculator 2026
Enter your expected 2026 income and last year's tax, get what to pay each quarter.
The 2025 boxes use the safe harbor of last year's tax; leave them empty if you did not file a 2025 return for all 12 months. Amounts are examples — use your own. Federal tax only: state and local taxes are not included.
Who has to pay estimated taxes in 2026?
The IRS's Form 1040-ES says you must pay estimated tax for 2026 if you expect to owe at least $1,000 after subtracting your withholding and refundable credits, and you expect your withholding and refundable credits to be less than the smaller of 90% of your 2026 tax or 100% of your 2025 tax (the 2025 return must cover all 12 months). You do not have to pay if you were a U.S. citizen or resident for all of 2025 and had no tax liability for the full year. It mostly affects freelancers and other self-employed people, and anyone with income that has no withholding — interest, dividends, rent, or the taxable part of Social Security.
What are the 2026 due dates?
April 15, 2026 for income earned Jan. 1 – Mar. 31; June 15, 2026 for Apr. 1 – May 31; Sept. 15, 2026 for June 1 – Aug. 31; and Jan. 15, 2027 for Sept. 1 – Dec. 31. They are called quarterly, but the periods are not equal: the second one is only two months. If a date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the payment is on time on the next business day — none of the four 2026 dates does. You do not have to make the January payment if you file your 2026 return by February 1, 2027 and pay the whole balance with it. This site's tax tables are for 2026; the IRS publishes a new Form 1040-ES each year.
How much do I have to pay to avoid a penalty?
The required annual payment is the smaller of 90% of your expected 2026 tax and 100% of the tax on your 2025 return. If your 2025 AGI was more than $150,000 ($75,000 if you file separately from your spouse), it is 110% of your 2025 tax instead. IRS Publication 505's example: 2025 tax of $42,581 and AGI of $180,000 gives 110% × $42,581 = $46,839; against 90% of an expected $71,253 ($64,128) the smaller, $46,839, is the required payment. Subtract your withholding, divide by four, and that is each installment. The 2025 figure is Form 1040 line 24 minus refundable credits and a few other items (the 1040-ES instructions list them). Farmers and fishermen have different rules.
How does the calculator figure my 2026 tax?
It follows the IRS's 2026 Estimated Tax Worksheet. It adds your income, subtracts adjustments and half of your self-employment tax, takes the standard deduction (or your itemized deductions if larger), applies the 2026 tax rates, subtracts credits, and adds self-employment tax: 12.4% Social Security on 92.35% of your profit up to the $184,500 wage base (less any W-2 wages), plus 2.9% Medicare on all of it. On the example $60,000 of self-employment profit as a single filer, the self-employment tax is $8,477.73, taxable income $39,661.14 and income tax $4,511.34, for a total of $12,989.07.
What if my income is uneven during the year?
The annualized income installment method lets you pay less in early periods if you earn most of your income late — a seasonal business, for example, or a large gain in December. It is figured on Schedule AI of Form 2210 and described in chapter 2 of Pub. 505. This calculator does not compute it: it splits the required annual payment into four equal parts, which the IRS says is for income that is basically even through the year.
Example
A single filer expects $60,000 of self-employment profit in 2026, has no withholding, and paid $5,000 of tax for 2025 on an AGI of $55,000. Total 2026 tax is $12,989.07. 90% of that is $11,690.16, but 100% of 2025 tax is only $5,000.00, so the required annual payment is $5,000.00 and each of the four payments $1,250.00. Without a 2025 figure, the 90% rule would apply: $11,690.16, or $2,922.54 a quarter. Paying only the required amount avoids the underpayment penalty, but you would still owe the rest of the tax — about $7,989.07 — with your return; paying more is always allowed.
Are state and local taxes included?
No. This is the federal estimate only. Most states with an income tax have their own estimated tax rules, due dates and safe harbors — check your state tax agency. The calculator also leaves out capital gains and qualified dividends taxed at lower rates, alternative minimum tax, the Additional Medicare Tax, the net investment income tax, and the new Schedule 1-A deductions except what you enter in the other deductions box.
An estimate for planning only — not tax advice. Credits, other taxes and special cases are not fully included; your tax return decides. Sources: IRS Form 1040-ES (2026) and Publication 505, chapter 2; checked October 1, 2026. Compute the self-employment part in the self-employment tax calculator, the income tax in the income tax calculator, and see what a paycheck keeps in the paycheck calculator. How we check our calculators.