I got laid off at the end of last year. This year I have a small amount of unemployment, but I requested that taxes be witheld. That said I do have interest from multiple bank accounts and some iI also have interest from multiple bank accounts and dividends. I found out after I filed turbotax last year that I paid a penalty for estimated taxes, etc for Q1 24 (which was odd as I was doing '23 taxes). In any case I tried the tax estimator tool online and no luck because I am currently unemployed it doesn't work for me. Is there a simple method to estimate my tax on income from interest etc. for the quarter and pay so I am not paying the gov some exhorbitant interest rate (I think it is 8%) for overdue tax? Thanks for your help!
In order to avoid an underpayment penalty in 2024, your total estimated tax payments should equal 100% of your prior year total tax or 90% or 100% of the current year tax due.
If you have not filed your taxes yet, you can use the instructions in this link to help you calculate what the amount of your second quarter estimated tax payment should be.
TurboTax does have a taxcaster calculator but it is for the prior year. You can still use it to get an idea of what you should pay. When entering the information, you would enter the unemployment income under the Income section of the calculator.