Hello @inspiration! This is definitely a confusing topic when you have both W2 and 1099-NEC income.
The easiest way to explain it is this: Your W2 wage income and your unemployment have both had federal income taxes withheld on the amounts received. So essentially, the tax liability on those amounts is already covered. You will want to make estimated payments based on your 1099 income only.
You are correct in stating that you were not required to make a Q1 or Q2 estimated payment, since you started working in June, so you will want to calculate your 1099 earnings from June through August to include on a Q3 payment. You did not mention any expenses paid out of pocket on your 1099 earnings, but if you do have expenses you will want to calculate your net income for those months, and pay estimated taxes on the net earnings.
A good rule of thumb is to send in 25% of the net income as an estimated payment (10% for the lowest federal income tax bracket, and 15% for the SS and Medicare taxes due on that income). If your income puts you into a higher tax bracket, you would up the federal income percentage based on your tax bracket (2024 income tax brackets). The fact that you mentioned paying 110% of your prior year's tax liability leads me to believe that your taxable income last year exceeded $150,000, so the federal percentage of your estimated tax payment will probably exceed the lowest bracket of 10%.
You also did not mention which state you live in. If you live in a state that has no state income tax such as TX or NV, then no need to make estimated state payments. However, if you live in a state with an income tax, you will want to find the state income tax rate for your income level and make estimated payments to the state based on that percentage as well.
And lastly, making estimated payments to cover 110% of your prior year liability would definitely exempt you from paying any penalty on underpayment, but may not cover your tax liability for the current year. Best to calculate the estimates based on net income earned and the tax bracket that you fall in to avoid any large amounts due at tax time.
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