DawnC
Expert Alumni

Retirement tax questions

Form 2210, Underpayment of Estimated Tax is not ready yet.   The chart shows a tentative date of 02/18.   There is usually an option that says ''Let the IRS bill me later'' which will skip the penalty entry and Form 2210.   But if you want to get it waived or include it in your return, you will need to wait on the form.  

 

Underpayment penalties are assessed if you don't withhold or pay enough tax on income received during each quarter.   In fact, it's entirely possible to get hit with an underpayment penalty even though you paid your tax bill in full by the April deadline or are getting a refund.

 

Example: Joe is self-employed and estimated next year's tax bill at $20,000. Rather than making 4 quarterly payments of $5,000 apiece, he chose to pay $500 in each of the first 3 quarters, and the remaining $18,500 in the fourth quarter.   When he filed, his actual tax bill came to $17,270 and he got a $2,730 refund. However, he got hit with the underpayment penalty because he underpaid his estimated tax in the first 3 quarters.

 

Tip: To reduce or possibly even eliminate your underpayment penalty,  search for annualizing your tax (use this exact phrase) inside TurboTax. This will take you to the underpayment penalty section and we'll take you through the steps to possibly reduce your underpayment penalty. (If you don’t see Jump to annualizing your tax in the search results, make sure you’re in your return and not on the Tax Home page.)   

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