If I overpay estimated payments for a quarter, will it cover the estimated payment for the next quarter if the amount overpaid covers the entirety of what is owed in the next quarter?

I overpaid one quarter of estimated taxes. However the following quarter taxes were low enough that the previous quarter’s overpayment would cover the next quarter’s taxes. Do I still have to make an estimated payment for that subsequent quarter even though the overpayment from the previous quarter would cover it?

Thanks.

posted

Technically, no. But I'm not the one who programmed the IRS computers on this. They "might" kick out a CP notice sometime after you have filed your 2018 tax return. So just to "make the computer happy" I would suggest you go to http://www.irs.gov/payments and pay $1 (one dollar) estimated tax for the 4th quarter. That way the fact that "an activity" of some type related to the tax payment is recorded by the computer, negating the probability of it kicking out a notice later, that when received in the mail would waste your time.