{
  "id": "estimated-tax",
  "version": "10b91cbed2ce",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "Estimated Tax Calculator",
  "question": "How much estimated tax do I pay?",
  "summary": "Works out 2026 quarterly estimated tax payments with the Form 1040-ES worksheet: the expected tax, the safe harbor from last year’s tax, withholding, and the four due dates.",
  "category": "finance",
  "subcategory": "tax-and-pay",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/estimated-tax-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/estimated-tax-calculator.md",
  "kind": "function",
  "method": "Expected tax = this year’s Form 1040 tax after credits. Required = min(90% × expected tax, 100% × last year’s tax, or 110% when last year’s AGI > $150,000). Annual payment = required − withholding (0 when expected tax − withholding < $1,000). Each quarter = annual ÷ 4, due April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15.",
  "assumptions": [
    "An estimate for tax year 2026 with the Form 1040-ES worksheet, not tax advice.",
    "Income comes evenly through the year (no annualized income installment method), and payments are four equal amounts.",
    "The expected tax uses the standard deduction; investment and other income are taxed at ordinary rates, and investment income over $12,200 rules out the earned income credit (IRC 32(i)). The limits of the income tax calculator apply (no AMT, no premium tax credit, no education credits).",
    "The last-year safe harbor needs a 12-month return for last year; farmers and fishers (66⅔% rule) are not modelled.",
    "A due date on a weekend, DC Emancipation Day, or Martin Luther King Jr. Day moves to the next business day; the Patriots’ Day extension for Maine and Massachusetts is not modelled."
  ],
  "inputs": {
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "status": {
        "title": "Filing status",
        "description": "Your expected federal filing status for the year.",
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "single",
          "mfj",
          "mfs",
          "hoh",
          "qss"
        ]
      },
      "se": {
        "title": "Self-employment profit",
        "description": "Expected net profit from self-employment for the year.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      },
      "wages": {
        "title": "Wages",
        "description": "Expected wages for the year (Form W-2 box 1).",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      },
      "invest": {
        "title": "Investment income",
        "description": "Expected interest, dividends, capital gains, and rents, taxed at ordinary rates here (EIC limit, 3.8% NIIT).",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      },
      "other": {
        "title": "Other income",
        "description": "Expected pensions, unemployment, and other taxable income that is not investment income.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      },
      "adj": {
        "title": "Adjustments to income",
        "description": "Expected IRA, HSA, and other adjustments (half of self-employment tax is added for you).",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      },
      "children": {
        "title": "Children under 17",
        "description": "Qualifying children under 17 for the child tax credit.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 20
      },
      "withheld": {
        "title": "Federal tax withheld",
        "description": "Federal income tax you expect to be withheld during the year.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      },
      "prior": {
        "title": "Last year’s total tax",
        "description": "The total tax on last year’s return (Form 1040 line 24 minus refundable credits), for the safe harbor.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      },
      "priorAgi": {
        "title": "Last year’s AGI",
        "description": "Adjusted gross income on last year’s return; above $150,000 the safe harbor is 110%.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000000
      },
      "year": {
        "title": "Tax year",
        "description": "The year you pay estimated tax for. A year with no published rates uses the latest year this site has.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 2026,
        "maximum": 2035
      }
    }
  },
  "outputs": {
    "quarterly": {
      "label": "Each quarterly payment",
      "description": "The required annual payment less withholding, divided by four (Form 1040-ES worksheet line 15).",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "annual": {
      "label": "Estimated tax to pay for the year",
      "description": "The required annual payment minus the tax withheld (line 14a); 0 when no payments are needed.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "required": {
      "label": "Required annual payment",
      "description": "The smaller of 90% of this year’s expected tax and 100% or 110% of last year’s tax (line 12c).",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "expectedTax": {
      "label": "Expected tax for the year",
      "description": "This year’s expected federal tax after credits, including self-employment tax (line 11c).",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "currentSafeHarbor": {
      "label": "90% of this year’s tax",
      "description": "Line 12a.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "priorSafeHarbor": {
      "label": "Last year’s tax safe harbor",
      "description": "100% of last year’s tax, or 110% when last year’s AGI was over $150,000 ($75,000 separately) (line 12b).",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "basis": {
      "label": "Based on",
      "description": "Which rule set the required annual payment.",
      "format": "text"
    },
    "q1": {
      "label": "1st payment due",
      "description": "April 15, or the next business day.",
      "format": "date"
    },
    "q2": {
      "label": "2nd payment due",
      "description": "June 15, or the next business day.",
      "format": "date"
    },
    "q3": {
      "label": "3rd payment due",
      "description": "September 15, or the next business day.",
      "format": "date"
    },
    "q4": {
      "label": "4th payment due",
      "description": "January 15 of the next year, or the next business day.",
      "format": "date"
    },
    "ratesYear": {
      "label": "Rates of tax year",
      "description": "The tax year whose rates were used.",
      "format": "integer"
    },
    "notice": {
      "label": "Note",
      "description": "A note when no payments are needed, or another year’s rates were used.",
      "format": "text"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "status": "single",
      "se": 60000,
      "wages": 0,
      "children": 0,
      "withheld": 0,
      "year": 2026
    },
    "outputs": {
      "quarterly": 2708.26425,
      "annual": 10833.057,
      "required": 10833.057,
      "expectedTax": 12036.73,
      "currentSafeHarbor": 10833.057,
      "basis": "90% of this year’s tax",
      "q1": "2026-04-15",
      "q2": "2026-06-15",
      "q3": "2026-09-15",
      "q4": "2027-01-15",
      "ratesYear": 2026
    },
    "text": "With an expected tax of $12,036.73, pay $2,708.26 each quarter, starting April 15, 2026."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "status": "single",
        "se": 60000,
        "prior": 8000,
        "priorAgi": 50000,
        "year": 2026
      },
      "expect": {
        "expectedTax": 12036.73,
        "required": 8000,
        "annual": 8000,
        "quarterly": 2000,
        "basis": "100% of last year’s tax",
        "q1": "2026-04-15",
        "q4": "2027-01-15"
      },
      "source": "Form 1040-ES (2026) Estimated Tax Worksheet lines 12a to 15; expected tax from Schedule SE, Form 8995, and the Tax Table; Python 3 check in docs/progress/WP-82/fed.py with the 1040-ES worksheet (docs/progress/WP-82.md)"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "status": "mfj",
        "wages": 150000,
        "se": 50000,
        "withheld": 15000,
        "prior": 25000,
        "priorAgi": 190000
      },
      "expect": {
        "expectedTax": 29262.7724,
        "required": 26336.49516,
        "quarterly": 2834.12379,
        "basis": "90% of this year’s tax"
      },
      "source": "Form 1040-ES line 12b: 110% of 25,000 = 27,500 is more than 90% of 29,262.77, so 90% applies; Python 3 check in docs/progress/WP-82/fed.py with the 1040-ES worksheet (docs/progress/WP-82.md)"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "status": "single",
        "wages": 80000,
        "other": 5000,
        "withheld": 9000,
        "prior": 9000
      },
      "expect": {
        "expectedTax": 9876,
        "annual": 0,
        "quarterly": 0
      },
      "source": "Form 1040-ES line 14b: 9,876 − 9,000 = 876 is under $1,000, so no payments are required; Python 3 check in docs/progress/WP-82/fed.py with the 1040-ES worksheet (docs/progress/WP-82.md)"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "status": "single",
        "se": 60000,
        "year": 2027
      },
      "expect": {
        "q1": "2027-04-15",
        "q2": "2027-06-15",
        "q3": "2027-09-15",
        "q4": "2028-01-18"
      },
      "source": "IRC 7503: January 15, 2028 is a Saturday and Monday January 17 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so the 4th payment is due Tuesday January 18, 2028 (Python 3 datetime weekdays in docs/progress/WP-82.md)"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "IRS, Form 1040-ES (2026), Estimated Tax for Individuals, with the 2026 Estimated Tax Worksheet and payment due dates. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf",
    "IRS, Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p505",
    "IRS, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (Internal Revenue Bulletin 2025-45), section 4: 2026 amounts. https://www.irs.gov/irb/2025-45_IRB",
    "26 U.S.C. 7503: a deadline on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday moves to the next business day. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7503"
  ],
  "related": [
    "self-employment-tax",
    "income-tax",
    "tax-refund",
    "irs-late-payment-penalty"
  ],
  "changelog": []
}