Guide · Taxes
Quarterly estimates, without the panic
The verdict
Four dates, one rule of thumb: if you'll owe $1,000+ for the year, the IRS wants it in four installments.
Estimated tax is how people without an employer withholding pay as they go. For 2026 the four due dates are April 15, June 15, September 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027. The general trigger: you expect to owe $1,000 or more for the year after withholding and credits.
Beginners hear 'quarterly payments' and picture an accountant. The reality is duller: estimate your hustle profit, apply the set-aside percentage, pay roughly a quarter of the year's expected tax on each date. If your hustle is small — a few hundred dollars of profit — you may owe nothing quarterly at all, because the whole year's tax stays small.
What you cannot do is discover it in April with the money spent. The dates are on this site's tax page and in the checker output on purpose: the deadline is the product.
The math, shown
- 2026 dates: Apr 15 · Jun 15 · Sep 15 · Jan 15 '27
- Trigger (general): expect to owe $1,000+
- SE tax starts at $400 of net profit — lower than the quarterly trigger
Run your own numbers: the Fit Finder · the Real Pay Checker · the tax door
More in this cluster
- The set-aside: what to move aside from every payment
- 1099-NEC vs 1099-K — and why neither one decides your tax
Checked October 23, 2026. Figures carry their sources inline; when a schedule changes, this guide is frozen until re-verified (see the method).