I retired in 2022 but had some deferred compensation fall into 2023. that compensation had federal tax withdrawn at a rate higher than my expected marginal tax rate. I figured that would be enough to cover and Investment income for 2023 and thus was not expecting to make any 2023 estimated tax payments. in the 2nd half of 2023 I started doing some consulting work, the income for which did not have any tax withholding. So now I find myself in a position where I need to make an estimated tax payment. if I make an estimated tax payment for Q4 to cover my estimated withholding shortfall for 2023 that resulted fully due to earnings generated in the 2nd half of the year, am I going to be subject to a penalty for making no prior quarter estimated payments, based on an averaging the income over 4 quarters? specifically, I earned the bulk of my 2023 income in Q1and had $31k of FIT withholding in Q1. my total estimated tax for 2023 is $36k. so essentially I paid 86% of my full year tax liability in Q1. if I pay $5k estimated tax for Q4, is the IRS going still charge me a penalty because I didn't pay 25% of that in each quarter?
