@Vic M , it all depends on when the various sources of income were earned.
The "Default" method that the IRS and TTX uses, it assumes that all income is received evenly over the entire year. Thus, if you received a big bump in income during the last quarter of 2024, the "default" method assumes that ~1/4th of it was received in each of the first 3 quarters...resulting in an underpayment penalty for those quarters.
The way you eliminate/ or reduce the penalty, is to go thru the underpayment penalties calculations on the "Other Tax Situations" page. There you will make entries escribing exactly which quarters all of your income was received...and exactly when all your payments of taxes were made (withholding too.) Doing that prepare the form 2210 Annualized Income form that might remove the penalty.
Of course, if the big bump in income occurred during the first quarter, and you are just now paying for it...the 2210 Annualized income form probably won't help.
_____________________
But it is a chore to do that. You need all your monthly income, dividends, interest, etc so that you can enter your various income sources, by quarter (and the quarters are 3mos, 2mos, 3mos, 4mos) . I've done it once, and decided not to bother again if penalty occurs again for less than ~$50. (so far, just once for $12, so I just paid it and ignored the mess of the 2210 Annualized Income prep)
____________*Answers are correct to the best of my knowledge when posted, but should not be considered to be legal or official tax advice.*
