K M W
Employee Tax Expert

Business & farm

Individuals generally have to make estimated tax payments if they expect to owe tax of $1,000 or more when their return is filed. I presume when you filed your 2023 tax return through TurboTax, you owed over $1,000 (or paid estimated tax payments in 2023 as well); therefore the software generated quarterly estimated tax vouchers anticipating the same situation in 2024.

 

However, to the extent that your situation has changed, you may not need to make estimated quarterly tax payments every quarter. If you receive your income unevenly throughout the year (for example, because you generate your business income late in the year), you may be able to lower or eliminate the amount of your required estimated tax payment for one or more periods by using the annualized income installment method.

 

You will want to make sure to keep detailed records showing what income was earned in which quarter, so that  you can match the timing of the estimated payments made with the timing of when the income was earned.  

 

For more information, see IRS Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax, Chapter 2, which can be found at this link:  IRS Publication 505 

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