Employees have tax taken out of every paycheck. If you are self-employed, nobody does that for you, so the IRS expects four payments during the year. Miss them or pay too little and you can owe a penalty on top of the tax. This guide walks through how to work out each payment for 2026, using figures from IRS publications, and shows the Excel formulas if you want to build your own sheet.
Updated November 2026
Who needs to pay estimated taxes
Generally you make estimated payments when you expect to owe tax after withholding and credits, and the amount is $1,000 or more. Freelancers, sole proprietors and single-member LLC owners are the usual cases. The IRS explains the rules on its Tax Topic 306 page.
Step 1: Estimate your net profit
Start with expected 2026 revenue and subtract business expenses to get net profit, the number that goes on Schedule C. If you are unsure which costs qualify, our list of Schedule C categories helps you sort expenses. Last year’s profit, adjusted for known changes, is a reasonable starting point.
Step 2: Calculate self-employment tax
SE tax is 15.3 percent, made up of 12.4 percent Social Security and 2.9 percent Medicare. It applies to 92.35 percent of net profit, per Schedule SE. The Social Security part stops at the wage base, $184,500 for 2026.
Example (illustration): net profit of $60,000. Net earnings are $55,410.00 and SE tax is $8,477.73. You can deduct half of it, $4,238.86, when working out income tax.
Step 3: Estimate income tax
Subtract half of SE tax and the standard deduction from your income, then apply the brackets. For 2026 the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and married filing separately, $24,150 for head of household and $32,200 for married filing jointly. The brackets are in Revenue Procedure 2025-32. For a single filer the 10 percent bracket runs to $12,400 and the 12 percent bracket to $50,400.
Continuing the example: $60,000 minus $4,238.86 minus $16,100 leaves taxable income of $39,661.14. Tax is $1,240 on the first $12,400 plus 12 percent of the remaining $27,261.14, which is $3,271.34. Income tax is $4,511.34 in total.
Step 4: Add them up and divide by four
SE tax of $8,477.73 plus income tax of $4,511.34 gives $12,989.07, or 21.65 percent of profit. Divided into four payments, that is $3,247.27 each. The example ignores the qualified business income deduction, credits and state tax, so a real return would differ.
2026 due dates and safe harbor
Form 1040-ES lists the 2026 dates as April 15, June 15 and September 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027. The IRS says you generally avoid a penalty if you pay the smaller of 90 percent of the current year’s tax or 100 percent of the prior year’s. If your 2025 adjusted gross income was above $150,000 ($75,000 if married filing separately), the prior-year figure becomes 110 percent. Read the instructions in the 2026 Form 1040-ES.
If last year’s total tax was $12,000, the 100 percent safe harbor is $3,000 per quarter, lower than the $3,247.27 estimate above. Paying the safe harbor amount can protect you from a penalty even if you owe more at filing, though you still owe the balance.
Excel formulas
With net profit in B1, use these formulas in cells B2 to B5 for a basic SE tax sheet:
- Net earnings:
=B1*0.9235 - SE tax:
=MIN(B2,184500)*0.124+B2*0.029 - Half SE tax deduction:
=B3/2 - Taxable income:
=MAX(0,B1-B4-16100) - Quarterly payment:
=(B3+B6)/4
Income tax in B6 needs the bracket table. A SUMPRODUCT over bracket thresholds works, or use IFS with the base-plus-excess amounts from the revenue procedure. A tracker like our income and expense template keeps the profit figure current.
Adjusting during the year
Estimates are only as good as the profit figure behind them. If a big client pays late or a slow season hits, recalculate and lower the next payment. If a strong quarter pushes profit above plan, raise it, so you are not hit with one large bill in January. Keeping a record of each payment date and amount, along with the confirmation number from the IRS payment system, makes the year-end return much easier to complete.
Use the calculator
The quarterly estimated tax calculator does these steps for all four filing statuses and shows both safe harbor amounts. For SE tax by itself, use the self-employment tax calculator. Both give estimates only. This article is general information, not tax advice, so confirm your numbers with the IRS worksheet or a tax professional.
Frequently asked questions
When are 2026 estimated tax payments due?
According to Form 1040-ES, April 15, 2026, June 15, 2026, September 15, 2026 and January 15, 2027. The January payment is not needed if you file your 2026 return by February 1, 2027 and pay the full balance.
What is the safe harbor rule?
The IRS says you generally avoid the underpayment penalty if you owe less than $1,000 after withholding and credits, or if you pay at least 90 percent of this year’s tax or 100 percent of last year’s tax, whichever is smaller. Higher income taxpayers substitute 110 percent of last year’s tax.
How much is self-employment tax?
15.3 percent: 12.4 percent for Social Security and 2.9 percent for Medicare. For 2026 the Social Security portion applies to the first $184,500 of combined wages and net earnings.
Do I pay estimated tax if I also have a job with withholding?
You might not need to. Withholding counts toward the safe harbor tests, so you can raise your W-4 withholding instead of making separate payments. Check the Form 1040-ES worksheet.