Quarterly Estimated Tax Calculator

About this calculator

In the US, taxpayers who don't have enough tax withheld automatically from a paycheck — self-employed people, freelancers, and small business owners chief among them — are required by the IRS to pay estimated tax in four installments throughout the year (roughly mid-April, mid-June, mid-September, and mid-January) rather than settling the whole bill at filing time, using Form 1040-ES as the standard worksheet. The math is straightforward: estimated annual tax minus any withholding, divided into four equal payments, though the actual due dates aren't perfectly quarterly.

This calculator takes your expected annual income, effective tax rate, and any withholding already covered, and sizes each quarterly payment. Freelancers, gig-economy workers, independent contractors, and small business owners use it to budget for tax payments throughout the year and avoid the IRS underpayment penalty that applies when too little is paid before the deadline.