If, for example, you sell a large capital asset for a gain and receive a large chunk of money, plan to put a portion of your gain in your tax reserve account or make an extra payment to the IRS. If you choose to annualize, on the other hand, you'd make payments at the end of each quarter based on what you've actually earned so far that year. At the end of the first quarter, you'd pay taxes based on what you earned that quarter; at the end of the second quarter, you'd pay taxes based on what you earned in the first and second quarters; and so on. Meaning, your pay before taxes and other payroll deductions are taken out. One important caveat—if your annual income is more than $150,000 per year, then you’re required to pay 110% of what you paid in taxes last year.

Big changes in personal circumstances, like a marriage, divorce, or birth of a child, can also impact your tax liability and estimated taxes. If you have little or no income tax withheld from wages and earn significant other income, you may need to make quarterly estimated tax payments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Otherwise, you could owe interest and penalties when you file your tax return.

Expert does your taxes

If you have zero tax liability for the previous year and were a U.S. citizen or resident alien all year, you don’t have to make estimated payments for this year. However, if you have significant income for this year, you may choose to make quarterly payments anyway, so you’re not faced with a massive bill at tax time. The IRS provides Form 1040-ES for you to calculate and pay estimated taxes for the current year. While the 1040 relates to the previous year, the estimated tax form calculates taxes for the current year. You use Form 1040-ES to pay income tax, self-employment tax and any other tax you may be liable for. Individuals, including sole proprietors, partners, and S corporation shareholders, generally have to make estimated tax payments if they expect to owe tax of $1,000 or more when their return is filed.

To get your quarterly tax payments as low as possible, the Keeper app will also help you track your write-offs throughout the year. Being self-employed comes with a number of challenges — including estimated taxes. Luckily, our quarterly tax calculator takes the guesswork out of a complicated task. Use Tax Rate Schedules provided by the IRS to determine your tax amount. Multiply your adjusted gross income by the applicable tax rate to find your estimated income tax owed. To make calculating payroll taxes easier, invest in payroll services and software like QuickBooks to calculate payroll taxes.

When are estimated quarterly taxes due?

Another easy way to make quarterly estimated tax payments is through Electronic Funds Withdraw. With this method, you have quarterly payments deducted from your bank account automatically. If you have an overpayment on one year’s tax return, how to calculate quarterly taxes you can use it to get a head start on estimated tax payments for the following year. It’s as simple as applying all or a portion of your overpayment to the first quarter of your next year’s tax liability instead of receiving it as a refund.