The amounts that TurboTax prints on the four 1040-ES forms are just estimates - you can change the dollar amounts on any or all of them when you pay.
Yes, if you look at the instructions for the 1040-ES, you will see all sorts of calculations for determining your annual estimated tax and your quarterly estimated tax.
When I was a contractor, I found it easiest to
- Look at my previous year annual gross income for Schedule C
- Look at my tax on that income
- Create a ratio of tax to gross income, (say 25%)
- In the current year, set aside for each billing the income amount times this ratio into a separate account
- Each quarter, go into the account and make an estimated tax payment from whatever was in the account
In this way, your quarterly estimated tax payments rise and fall with your gross business income
In my case, I used 25%, but it will vary a lot based on the percent of expenses in your business (i.e., the ratio of gross income to net income), whether or not you are also an employee and doing withholding on a W-2, whether or not you have a spouse working, etc.
This worked for me; see what works for you.
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