Quarterly Estimated Tax Calculator (Form 1040-ES, 2026)
The four 2026 due dates are below, followed by what a $60,000 freelancer owes on each of them and a calculator for your own income, W-2 withholding, and state.
2026 quarterly tax due dates
Federal Form 1040-ES. Each installment covers the income period beside it — not a calendar quarter.
| Quarter | Income earned | Payment due |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | January 1 – March 31 | April 15, 2026 |
| Q2 | April 1 – May 31 | June 15, 2026 |
| Q3 | June 1 – August 31 | September 15, 2026 |
| Q4 | September 1 – December 31 | January 15, 2027 |
All four 2026dates fall on a weekday, so none of them move. The rule that pushes a deadline to the next business day only bites when the 15th lands on a weekend or holiday — that is why the 2025 second installment was June 16 and this year’s is June 15.
The periods are uneven: Q2 covers two months and Q4 covers four. If your income is lumpy rather than steady, the annualized income installment method sizes each payment to what you actually earned in that window.
A 1099 worker earning $60,000 pays $2,913 each quarter
Filing single, no W-2 job, no business expenses. Here is where that number comes from — and every figure below is the calculator’s own math, not a rule of thumb.
Self-employment tax
$8,478
15.3% for the year
Federal income tax
$3,173
on $28,509 taxable
Total for the year
$11,651
19% of gross, federal only
Each 1040-ES payment
$2,913
× 4 installments
How to calculate it
- Take 92.35% of net profit. That is the slice self-employment tax applies to: $60,000× 0.9235 = $55,410.
- Apply 15.3%. $8,478 of self-employment tax — $6,871 Social Security and $1,607 Medicare.
- Deduct half of it from income. $4,239 comes off, leaving $55,761 of adjusted gross income.
- Subtract the standard deduction. $16,100 for a single filer in 2026, leaving $39,661.
- Subtract the QBI deduction. 20% of qualified business income is worth $11,152 here, so federal income tax is charged on $28,509 — about $3,173 at 2026 single brackets.
- Add the two taxes and divide by four. $8,478 + $3,173 = $11,651, or $2,913 per installment.
Lands prefilled at $60,000 of 1099 income, filing single — change the income, add a W-2 salary, or switch states and the whole stack recalculates. If you would rather bank the money as it arrives than project a year ahead, how much to set aside for 1099 taxes turns the same $11,651 into a percentage of every invoice.
Federal only. If your state has an income tax it runs its own estimated-payment schedule on top of these four dates — see the state tax comparison for your rate, or use the state selector in the calculator below.
Calculate your own quarterly payment
The scenario above assumes no day job. Add a W-2 salary and its withholding here and the calculator subtracts what your employer is already paying before splitting the rest into four.
Your Income and Withholding
Federal tax already withheld from W-2 paychecks
Estimated Quarterly Payment
$2,118
Total annual estimated tax: $8,471 (after W-2 withholding)
2026 Quarterly Payment Schedule
Q1
January 1 – March 31
$2,118
Due: April 15, 2026
Q2
April 1 – May 31
$2,118
Due: June 15, 2026
Q3
June 1 – August 31
$2,118
Due: September 15, 2026
Q4
September 1 – December 31
$2,118
Due: January 15, 2027
How Your Payment Was Calculated
Safe Harbor Rules
To avoid underpayment penalties, you generally must pay at least:
- 90% of the tax shown on your current year return, OR
- 100% of the tax shown on your prior year return (110% if AGI exceeds $150,000)
If your income varies throughout the year, you can use the annualized income installment method (Form 2210, Schedule AI) to potentially reduce earlier quarter payments.
Why Side Hustlers Must Pay Quarterly
The U.S. tax system is pay-as-you-go. W-2 employees have taxes withheld from every paycheck, but self-employment income has no automatic withholding. The IRS expects you to pay taxes on this income throughout the year via quarterly estimated payments.
If you wait until April to pay all your taxes on side hustle income, you'll face underpayment penalties — essentially interest charged on what you should have paid each quarter. The estimated tax payments guide covers who is required to pay, the safe harbors, and the three ways to actually send the money.
What happens if you miss a payment
Nothing, at first — and that is what makes it easy to drift. There is no notice, no letter, and no withholding to fail, because the IRS has no way of knowing what you owed for the quarter until you file. The bill arrives with the return, in the form of an underpayment penalty that is really interest: the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points, roughly 8% annualized in 2026, charged daily on the shortfall.
The clock runs from each installment's own due date until you pay it, or until the return is due on April 15, 2027, whichever comes first. That is why the same missed dollar costs different amounts depending on which quarter it was — an early miss simply accrues for longer:
| Skipped installment | Due | Days until April 15, 2027 | Penalty if paid at filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 — $2,913 | April 15, 2026 | 365 | $233 |
| Q2 — $2,913 | June 15, 2026 | 304 | $194 |
| Q3 — $2,913 | September 15, 2026 | 212 | $135 |
| Q4 — $2,913 | January 15, 2027 | 90 | $57 |
| All four skipped, whole $11,651 paid at filing | $620 | ||
Two things follow from the shape of that table. First, catching up later does not undo an earlier miss — the penalty is computed quarter by quarter, so a double payment in September leaves the April interest exactly where it was. Second, the total is annoying rather than ruinous: on this scenario, skipping every deadline and settling the full $11,651 at filing costs about $620. The real risk is cash flow — owing five figures in one April, which is the situation quarterly payments exist to prevent.
What a missed payment is not is an audit trigger. The penalty is an automatic calculation applied to your return, not a referral to an examiner. What actually draws scrutiny to a Schedule C is different — chiefly income the IRS already has a 1099 for that never appears on your return. See IRS audit risk for the self-employed for the red flags that do matter and the records that answer them.
Three ways out if you have already missed one. Pay it now, since the interest stops the day the money lands. Bump the withholding on a W-2 job if you have one — withholding counts as paid evenly across the year regardless of when it happened, so a Q4 increase can patch a missed Q1 in a way an estimated payment cannot. Or file Form 2210 with Schedule AI to annualize, which recomputes each installment against the income you actually earned in that period and can erase the penalty outright if your year was genuinely back-loaded. And going forward, hitting the safe harbor — 100% of last year's tax, 110% if your prior-year AGI topped $150,000 — switches the penalty off no matter how large the final balance turns out to be.
Tips for Managing Quarterly Payments
- Set aside 25-30% of every payment. Transfer a percentage of each side hustle payment to a separate savings account immediately.
- Increase W-2 withholding instead. If you have a day job, you can submit a new W-4 to increase withholding and skip quarterly payments entirely.
- Use EFTPS for automatic payments. The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System lets you schedule payments in advance so you never miss a deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
When are quarterly estimated tax payments due in 2026?
April 15, 2026, June 15, 2026, September 15, 2026, January 15, 2027. Those four dates cover income earned January 1 – March 31, April 1 – May 31, June 1 – August 31, and September 1 – December 31 respectively. None of them shift this year: all four fall on a weekday, so the usual weekend-and-holiday rule that pushed the 2025 second installment to June 16 doesn't apply to any 2026 installment.
How much does a 1099 worker earning $60,000 pay each quarter?
About $2,913 per installment, filing single with no W-2 wages and no business expenses. That comes from $8,478 of self-employment tax plus $3,173 of federal income tax — $11,651 for the year, or 19% of gross, divided by four. State estimated payments, if your state has an income tax, are a separate schedule on top of this.
Do I have to pay quarterly taxes on my side hustle?
Yes, if you expect to owe $1,000 or more in federal tax when you file, after withholding and refundable credits. That threshold catches most consistent freelancers, because self-employment tax alone reaches $1,000 at roughly $7,000 of net profit. If you also have a W-2 job, raising withholding on a fresh W-4 satisfies the requirement without sending vouchers at all.
What happens if I miss a quarterly payment?
You are charged interest on the shortfall, not a flat fine, and nothing happens during the year — there is no notice and no letter, because the IRS only sees the gap when your return is filed. The rate is the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points, roughly 8% annualized in 2026, running daily from the missed due date until you pay or until the return is due, whichever comes first. On this page's $2,913 installment, skipping the first quarter and settling up at filing costs about $233; skipping the fourth costs about $57.
Can I make up a missed quarter by paying more in the next one?
Not retroactively. The underpayment penalty is computed quarter by quarter, so a large Q3 payment does not undo a missed Q1 — the interest on that quarter already accrued. Two things do work backwards. W-2 withholding is treated as paid evenly across the year no matter when it was withheld, so bumping withholding late in the year can patch earlier quarters. And the annualized income installment method (Form 2210, Schedule AI) recalculates each installment against income actually earned in that period, which removes the penalty if your income genuinely arrived late in the year.
Does missing a quarterly payment increase my audit risk?
No. The underpayment penalty is an automatic interest calculation applied to your return, not a referral for examination, and paying late is not one of the things that draws scrutiny to a Schedule C. What does get flagged is income the IRS already has a copy of that never appears on your return — a 1099-NEC or 1099-K matched against what you reported. Missing a deadline costs you interest; leaving income off costs you a notice.
How do I pay quarterly estimated taxes?
You can pay online at IRS.gov/payments using Direct Pay or EFTPS, by mailing a check with a Form 1040-ES voucher, or through the IRS2Go mobile app. Direct Pay needs no enrollment and confirms immediately; EFTPS requires a PIN mailed to you but lets you schedule all four installments in advance. Most states with an income tax run a parallel quarterly system.
What is the safe harbor rule for estimated taxes?
To avoid penalties, pay at least 90% of your current year tax liability OR 100% of last year's tax (110% if your prior-year AGI was over $150,000). Meeting either threshold protects you from the penalty no matter how large the balance at filing, which makes the prior-year figure the cleanest target on income that is growing or unpredictable.
Can I adjust my quarterly payments throughout the year?
Yes. If your income changes, you can increase or decrease future payments. You don't have to pay the same amount each quarter. Use the annualized income installment method if your income is uneven — a holiday-season shop or a single large project can make equal installments the wrong shape.
Recommended gear
Get serious about your side-hustle taxes
The two tax-prep books that show up in every CPA's bookshelf. Affiliate links — purchases help keep this calculator free.
Tax Savvy for Small Business
Frederick Daily (Nolo)
Plain-English playbook on deductions, recordkeeping, audits, and entity choice. The book most new freelancers wish they'd read in year one.
J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes
Annual guide
Comprehensive, updated yearly. The reference you reach for when a specific tax question comes up at 10pm the night before estimated taxes are due.
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