If you just became self employed recently (within this tax quarter) you will not be responsible for paying Quarterly Estimated Taxes for this quarter. You will be expected to start making your quarterly estimated tax payments by the next quarter, due June 15, 2016.
- You can pay your quarterly taxes by mailing a Form 1040-ES to the IRS with your payment, or by using the IRS' EFTPS system. Using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) is the easiest way to pay your federal taxes for individuals as well as businesses. Make ALL of your federal tax payments including federal tax deposits (FTDs), installment agreement and estimated tax payments using EFTPS. If it is easier to pay your estimated taxes weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc. you can, as long as you have paid enough in by the end of the quarter. Using EFTPS, you can access a history of your payments, so you know how much and when you made your estimated tax payments.
- You can also pay directly online at the IRS website linked below. Direct pay from your bank account is free. Payment by credit/debit card has a service fee. If you pay using one of these features, it will ask you what type of tax form you are paying. For an estimated tax payment, be sure to select 1040ES in the menu. Be sure to indicate the tax year correctly if asked to specify the tax year you are making payments for.
https://www.irs.gov/Payments
- In the future, once your business is up and running, you will be able to use TurboTax to create your Estimated Tax payment vouchers for the coming year (if you choose to), at the end of filing your tax return for the current year. You can then mail those forms in to the IRS. TurboTax will provide you with the address for mailing when the forms are created.
TurboTax uses the safe-harbor method by basing your estimated tax on either
90% of your expected tax for 2016 or 110% of the taxes shown on your 2015 return. Even if you choose not to use TurboTax to calculate your Estimated Tax payments,
this is the method you should use when calculating your estimated taxes for the coming year.
Payment Period Due Date
January 1 - March 31, 2016 April 18, 2016
April 1 - May 31, 2016 June 15, 2016
June 1 - August 31, 2016 September 15, 2016
Sept.1 - December 31, 2016 January 17, 2017
