I take regular IRA distributions with tax withheld throughout the year. My tax liability is skewed towards the end of the year due to taxable portion of Social Security increasing during the year. For each quarter I figure tax due on Turbotax What If and have chosen not to pay estimated tax if I"m due a refund based on quarterly calculations. As income increases along with Social Security each quarter, by the 3rd quarter I have a tax due so pay guestimated tax to keep tax due in april <$1000. I've tried annualizing as well as actual tax paid for a number of years and most of the time there's no penalty or minimal. This year I learned there is Worksheet 2-2 in IRS instructions for estimated tax to take the Social Security dilemma into account but the worksheet is nearly impossible to figure out. This flows into Workseet 2-7 (which Turbotax does in Step-by-Step). Despite IRS rules, I don't think I should pay extra tax on SS income during the year if I were to die during the year with no tax liability and refund due. My "turbotax method" seems to accomplish the same thing as the Worksheet if you include only the taxable SS each quarter for annualizing. It appears that if I check the "Explain" box to give an explanation so that I may be able to request the waiver for Box A or B. Has anyone else tried to complete Worksheet 2-2?
