Estimated tax payments 2026: the four due dates

If you work for yourself, nobody withholds tax from what you earn, so the IRS expects you to pay it during the year in four installments. For tax year 2026 the deadlines are April 15, June 15 and September 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027.

Payment	Covers income earned	Due date
Q1	January 1 to March 31	Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Q2	April 1 to May 31	Monday, June 15, 2026
Q3	June 1 to August 31	Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Q4	September 1 to December 31	Friday, January 15, 2027

None of the 2026 dates falls on a weekend. When one does, the payment is due the next business day.

Want a reminder? Add the four dates to your calendar (works with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and Outlook). Every 2026 figure is on the 2026 tax numbers page.

Why the quarters aren't equal

The IRS calls them quarterly payments, but the periods are 3, 2, 3 and 4 months long. The second payment comes just two months after the first, which catches a lot of people out in June. The simplest fix is to pay a quarter of your yearly estimate on each date, whatever you actually earned in that stretch.

Do you have to pay?

You generally need to make estimated payments if you expect to owe at least $1,000 for 2026 after subtracting withholding and refundable credits. If the business is your only income, that happens at about $7,100 of profit, because self-employment tax alone is about 14% of profit.

There is one more way out. If you had no tax liability at all for 2025, you were a US citizen or resident for the whole year, and your 2025 return covered all 12 months, you won't owe an underpayment penalty for 2026.

The January exception

You can skip the January 15, 2027 payment if you file your 2026 return by February 1, 2027 and pay the whole balance with it. That suits people who have their paperwork ready early. Everyone else should make the January payment.

How much to pay

To be safe from the penalty, your four payments need to add up to the smaller of:

• 90% of the tax on your 2026 return, or
• 100% of the tax on your 2025 return (110% if your 2025 adjusted gross income was over $150,000, or $75,000 if married filing separately).

The second option is often the easier one, because you already know the number. Our guide to the safe harbor rule walks through both, and the free calculator does the arithmetic.

How to pay

The quickest way is IRS Direct Pay at irs.gov/payments, which takes money straight from a bank account at no charge. Choose "Estimated tax" as the reason and 2026 as the tax year, including for the January 2027 payment. You can also pay through your IRS Online Account, which lets you schedule all four payments ahead, with a debit or credit card (the processors charge a fee), or by mailing a check with a 1040-ES voucher. The IRS no longer takes new EFTPS enrollments from individuals. How to pay estimated taxes online walks through each option step by step.

Keep the confirmation number. You'll list your total estimated payments on your 2026 return.

If you missed a payment

Pay as soon as you can. The underpayment penalty works like interest: it's charged on the amount that was short, for the number of days it was late, and it's calculated separately for each quarter. A late Q2 payment doesn't stay late forever; once you catch up, the penalty on that part stops growing.

Don't forget your state

Most states with an income tax also expect estimated payments, often on the same dates. Check your state's revenue department website, because the thresholds and dates can differ.