Estimated quarterly taxes for the self-employed: 2026 guide

If you are self-employed in the US and expect to owe at least $1,000 in federal tax for the year, you generally have to pay estimated tax in instalments. For the 2026 tax year the deadlines are April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15, 2027. You avoid an underpayment penalty by paying at least the smaller of 90% of this year's tax or 100% of last year's. This is general information, not tax advice, so check it with your accountant.

Who has to pay estimated tax

You generally must pay estimated tax if you expect to owe at least $1,000 for the year after subtracting withholding and refundable credits, according to the IRS estimated tax FAQ.

When you have a job, your employer withholds tax from each paycheck. When you are self-employed, the whole payment from a client lands in your account with nothing taken out. The IRS system is pay as you go, so you take over your employer's job and send in tax during the year.

Self-employment tax is usually what pushes a working business past $1,000. The IRS puts the rate at 15.3%, made up of 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. You generally owe it once your net self-employment earnings reach $400, and it applies to 92.35% of those earnings. The Social Security part stops at an annual maximum that changes each year. It sits on top of regular income tax.

If you also have a W-2 job, you may be able to ask your employer to withhold extra tax to cover the self-employed income instead of making separate payments. Withholding is treated as paid evenly across the year. For someone whose only income is self-employment, estimated payments are part of the work.

The 2026 due dates

The four payments are not evenly spaced, so learn the dates. The IRS lists these for 2026:

• April 15, for income from January 1 to March 31
• June 15, for April 1 to May 31
• September 15, for June 1 to August 31
• January 15, 2027, for September 1 to December 31

If a date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, a payment is on time if it is made on the next day that is not one of those. Note that the second period is only two months long, and the last payment for 2026 income is due in January 2027.

If you are reading this in late 2026, the January 15 payment is the one still ahead. Put the next dates in your calendar with a reminder a week before. Your state may have its own estimated tax schedule, often similar but not identical, so check that too.

How much to pay: the safe harbor

Income from client work is uneven, so it is hard to know in April what you will owe for the year. The IRS gives a safe harbor so you do not have to guess. In its FAQ, the penalty is avoided if your withholding and estimated payments cover the smaller of:

• 90% of this year's tax, or
• 100% of last year's tax. If last year's adjusted gross income was over $150,000 ($75,000 if married filing separately), the figure is 110%.

Last year's return must cover all 12 months for the prior-year option to apply.

The prior-year option is the one most people use, because you can look it up. You cannot know your 2026 income in April, but you do know what your 2025 return showed. Divide that figure by four, applying the 110% rule if it fits you, and pay that each period. If you have a great year, you settle the extra at filing time without a penalty for the timing.

Payments are generally made in four equal instalments. If your income is lumpy, for example one big project late in the year, the IRS says the annualized installment method can let you pay less early and more later. That uses the worksheet in Publication 505 and Form 2210 with Schedule AI, which is a job for your accountant.

A worked example

Say your 2025 return showed $18,000 of total federal tax, and your income did not cross the $150,000 line. The 100% prior-year rule applies. Your plan for 2026 is $4,500 on each of the four dates, $18,000 in total.

Now suppose 2026 goes well and your real tax is $24,000. You have paid $18,000, so $6,000 is due with your return. Because you met the safe harbor, there is no underpayment penalty on that amount for having paid it late.

If 2026 is weak and your real tax is $12,000, you overpaid and get the difference back as a refund. Some people in that case prefer the 90% current-year option, so they do not lend the IRS money for free. That means estimating the current year, which is harder.

The point of the example is that a safe harbor is not a forecast. It is four payments you can calculate today, so April holds a settlement and not a surprise.

What happens if you pay late or not enough

The penalty is interest, not a flat fine. The IRS announced that the underpayment rate for individuals is 7% a year, compounded daily, for the quarter that began October 1, 2026. The rate is reset every quarter.

The IRS explains in Topic 306 that you generally will not owe the penalty if you owe less than $1,000 after withholding and credits, or if you meet the safe harbor. You work out the penalty on Form 2210, and the IRS may waive it in limited cases such as a casualty, a disaster or other unusual circumstances.

Because it is interest, a small shortfall costs a small amount, and paying as soon as you can stops it growing. A missed date is a cost to fix, not a disaster.

The first-year trap

Your first year of self-employment catches people out. The prior-year rule works best for people with a stable history. If last year you were a student, or an employee with all your tax withheld, your prior-year figure may be low. A self-employed person with a strong first year who pays only a small amount can end up with a large bill the next April.

That bill is real tax, not a penalty. It is a cash shock for someone who treated every client payment as fully theirs, and it can come with interest if you fell short of the 90% test.

The fix is discipline. From your first payment, move a fixed share into a separate account. Many people use 25% to 30%, depending on their income and state, but the right figure for you depends on your bracket and deductions, so ask an accountant. Base estimated payments on what you are earning now, not on a prior year that does not reflect it.

How to pay

You do not have to mail anything. The IRS lists several options, including your online account, Direct Pay, EFTPS, the IRS app, and card or digital wallet payments. IRS Direct Pay is free, needs no sign-in and lets you pay estimated tax from a bank account. Choose "estimated tax" and the right tax year.

Form 1040-ES has a worksheet to estimate your tax for the year. Keep a record of each payment, since you will report them on your return.

Estimated tax is one piece of the wider picture. Our 2026 self-employed tax guide covers deductions and the return. If you pay subcontractors, note that the 1099-NEC threshold changes for payments from 2026, which we explain in the post on the 1099-NEC threshold. And a 13-week cash flow forecast helps you see tax dates coming before they land.

How Delivvo helps you know the number

Delivvo does not calculate or file tax. It makes the income figure behind your estimate easy to read, and it helps you get paid on a schedule, so a tax date is not a cash surprise.

Here is how it works:

1. You send a quote, and when the client accepts, the contract, invoice and payment schedule are created together. Invoices have sequential numbers in your format, so your income list has no gaps.
2. Large projects split into up to 12 scheduled payments, and retainers use recurring invoices, so cash arrives in predictable amounts.
3. Late payment reminders run automatically at 7, 14 and 30 days and stop once the invoice is paid, which reduces the chance that an unpaid invoice leaves you short on a tax date.
4. The client pays through your own gateway and Delivvo takes 0%, so what you receive is what the gateway pays out, with only the gateway's fees to account for.
5. Each client page shows the quotes, contracts, invoices and payments in one place, so you can total a quarter's income quickly.
6. If you correct a mistake, you void the invoice or issue a credit note, and the original stays on record for your accountant.

Pro costs $29 a month, Solo is $12, and the Free plan needs no card, so you can set up your numbering and a first schedule before you decide.

Every invoice also carries a verification code, and the templates are starting points, not tax advice. Talk to your accountant about how to treat each payment. See the page on recurring invoices.

For the wider picture, see quotes and proposals and the CRM for service businesses.

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