Who Needs to Pay Estimated Tax
Withholding is the tax an employer takes out of each paycheck and sends to the IRS for you. If you receive money without withholding, you pay the tax yourself during the year using Form 1040-ES.
Income that commonly calls for estimated tax payments includes:
- Self-employment income
- Interest and dividends
- Capital gains
- Alimony
- Prizes and awards
Estimated payments also cover self-employment tax and alternative minimum tax. The general rule is that you must pay estimated tax if you expect to owe $1,000 or more after subtracting withholding and credits.
If You Also Have a W-2 Job
If you earn a paycheck and have side income, you may be able to skip Form 1040-ES. Instead, you can file a new Form W-4 with your employer to increase the tax withheld from each check.
If You’re a Nonresident Alien
Nonresident aliens use a separate version of the form called Form 1040-ES (NR).
What’s Inside the Form 1040-ES Package
The 2026 Form 1040-ES package has two main parts:
- An estimated tax worksheet to figure out how much you’ll owe for the year
- Payment vouchers to send with each payment if you pay by mail
Your income may change partway through the year. If it does, fill out a new worksheet and adjust your next payment.
2026 Estimated Tax Due Dates
You can split your estimated tax into four payments. Here’s when each one is due:
| Payment | Due date |
|---|---|
| First | April 15, 2026 |
| Second | June 15, 2026 |
| Third | Sept. 15, 2026 |
| Fourth | Jan. 15, 2027 |
You can skip the January payment if you file your 2026 return by Feb. 1, 2027, and pay the entire balance due. If a due date falls on a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next business day. For mailed payments, the postmark date counts.
The IRS doesn’t send reminders, so put these dates on your calendar. Learn more about how quarterly payments work.
How to Pay Estimated Tax
You can mail a check with a Form 1040-ES voucher or pay electronically. Electronic options include:
- IRS Direct Pay
- Your IRS online account
- Phone
- The IRS2Go app
You don’t have to stick to four payments. You can pay weekly or monthly, as long as you’ve paid enough by the end of each period. You can also learn how to pay estimated taxes online.
How to Avoid an Underpayment Penalty
If you pay too little during the year, the IRS may charge a penalty. You generally won’t owe one if your balance due is less than $1,000 after withholding and credits. Otherwise, the rules in IRS Publication 505 let you avoid the penalty if you paid the smaller of these amounts:
- 90% of your tax for this year
- 100% of the tax shown on last year’s return
The second threshold rises to 110% if last year’s adjusted gross income (AGI) was more than $150,000, or $75,000 if married filing separately. AGI is your total income minus certain adjustments.
The penalty can apply even if you’re due a refund when you file. That’s because the IRS checks whether you paid enough during each quarter, not just whether your total payments for the year were enough. If you underpaid early in the year — even if you later overpaid or qualified for credits that produced a refund — you can still owe a penalty for the quarter when you fell short.
Per the IRS, you can use Form 2210 to see if you owe a penalty for underpaying your estimated tax.
