Quarterly Estimated Tax Estimator
A rough, educational estimate of what your quarterly estimated payments may look like, using simplified federal assumptions.
Enter your expected income, filing status, and withholding to date. The output is a simplified ballpark — it does not model deductions, credits, state taxes, or your full situation. This is educational, not advice.
Illustrative only — not tax advice
This tool uses simplified 2024 federal income tax brackets and standard deductions only. It does not model itemized deductions, QBI, AMT, NIIT, state taxes, capital gains rates, tax credits, or your specific deductions. Actual quarterly payment obligations depend on your full tax picture. Consult a CPA before making any estimated tax payments — underpayment can result in penalties.
Common questions
Estimated taxes — what to know
Who needs to make quarterly estimated tax payments?
Generally, anyone who expects to owe a meaningful amount at filing and doesn't have enough withheld — most commonly self-employed people, business owners, and investors with significant non-wage income. Whether you need to pay, and how much, depends on your total income, withholding, and prior-year tax.
What is the 'safe harbor' rule?
Paying at least 90% of the current year's tax, or 100% of last year's tax (110% if your prior-year AGI was over $150,000), through withholding and estimates may help you avoid an underpayment penalty. Whether a safe harbor applies depends on your specific numbers.
Why is this only an estimate?
This tool uses simplified assumptions and does not account for deductions, credits, multiple income types, state taxes, or your full situation. It is meant to illustrate the concept — not to produce a filing figure. We build real projections from your actual documents.
When are the payments due?
For most taxpayers, the four installments are due in mid-April, mid-June, mid-September, and mid-January of the following year. Dates can shift for weekends and holidays.
Want a projection built from your actual numbers?
We build quarterly projections from your real income and documents, so each payment is reasonable — not a guess. Whether safe-harbor rules help depends on your facts.