2026 tax year

Quarterly tax calculator

Nobody withholds tax from a 1099, the IRS expects four payments a year instead.

Your estimated year

Updated for 2026 rules

State

Switching state opens that state's page.

Expected 1099 income this year

Business deductions

Filing status

Children under 17

Each is worth up to a $2,200 credit against federal tax.

Other dependents

$500 each, e.g. a parent or a child 17 or older.

Last year's total tax (optional)

Line 24 of your prior 1040, unlocks the prior-year safe harbor.

Last year's AGI (optional)

Above $150,000 the prior-year target rises to 110%.

Your 2026 payment schedule

Enter what you expect to earn and press Calculate to see each payment.

If you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file, the IRS wants the money as you earn it, on Form 1040-ES. This works out each payment from what you expect to make.

The four 2026 due dates

They are not calendar quarters. Q2 covers two months, Q4 covers four, and the last payment falls in the following January:

Payment	Income earned	Due	Form
Q1	Jan 1 to Mar 31	April 15, 2026	1040-ES
Q2	Apr 1 to May 31	June 16, 2026	1040-ES
Q3	Jun 1 to Aug 31	September 15, 2026	1040-ES
Q4	Sep 1 to Dec 31	January 15, 2027	1040-ES

The two safe harbors

You avoid an underpayment penalty by hitting either target, whichever is lower, you do not have to predict the year perfectly:

Current-year route. Pay 90% of current year tax liability.
Prior-year route. Pay 100% of prior year tax liability (110% if prior year AGI > $150,000).

The prior-year route is the practical one for anyone whose income swings: the target is a number already printed on your last return, so it cannot move underneath you. The current-year route is what a first-year filer uses, since there is no prior return to point at.

Penalty Miss a payment and the shortfall accrues at the federal short-term rate + 3% (varies quarterly), charged from that quarter's due date. It applies per quarter, catching up in April does not erase a missed April-to-June payment.

What the four payments have to cover

The layers of tax on $60,000 of 1099 profit, single filer, California, 2026

On $60,000 of profit, self-employment tax is the biggest single layer, and it's the one W-2 veterans forget to budget for. A quarter of the combined total is roughly what each 1040-ES payment needs to carry.

What this calculator does and doesn't cover

It sizes payments from expected 1099 profit, self-employment tax included.
It does not model W-2 withholding. If you also hold a job, withholding there counts toward the same targets and reduces what you send.
It assumes the standard deduction and applies no credits beyond those in the engine.
State estimated payments are shown where the state has an income tax; state due dates are not in the 2026 dataset, so confirm them with the state.

Quarterly estimated tax by state

Each state page adds that state's own quarterly payment to the federal schedule:

Related tools

1099 tax calculator, the annual view

The next question

Recheck the full estimate Total 2026 self-employment and income tax by state, in one number. Open → Cut next year's bill Whether an S-corp election lowers the self-employment tax behind these payments. Open →