Making payments, ahead of time is essentially optional. You can wait, to pay, until you file your 2019 tax return, in 2020. But you risk an under payment penalty of approx 5.5% of the amount due (annual rate). This is in addition to the 10% early distribution penalty.
To avoid the underpayment penalty, you should make estimated tax payments for the current tax year if both of the following apply:
- 1. You expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax for the current tax year, after subtracting your withholding and credits.
- 2. You expect your withholding and credits to be less than the smaller of: 90% of the tax to be shown on your current year’s tax return, or 100% of the tax shown on your prior year’s tax return. (Your prior year tax return must cover all 12 months.)
TurboTax (TT) can prepare the quarterly payment vouchers. In your 2017 software, enter at:
Federal Taxes
-Other Tax Situations
-Other Tax Forms
-Form W-4 and Estimated Taxes - Click the Start or Update button
On the next screen answer No to the W-4 question
If your goal is just to avoid the underpayment penalty, then paying 100% of the prior year tax liability is the “safe haven”
