Hello @joannaj101!
Congratulations on starting your new contracting work! It's exciting to start something new, and we've got lots of great resources to help you navigate the changes!
The US tax system is a pay-as-you-go system, which is why when you have an employer and receive a W-2, you have withholdings and pay your taxes (to your best estimate) each pay period. When you're self-employed, there aren't any withholdings on that, so you make quarterly estimated tax payments to cover your tax liability throughout the year, rather than paying it all at the end of the year when you file your return (which often involves penalties if you've underpaid). If you're still working a W-2 job, some employees choose to have more income tax withheld from their paychecks to cover their extra income from self-employment work instead of paying quarterly estimated taxes. If you choose to or need to pay quarterly estimated tax payments, this IRS table is a really nice resource for when you should make each payment for each period's earnings. The nice thing with estimated tax payments is that paying quarterly is plenty as those are the due dates! There's no need to pay bi-weekly or even monthly.
You can use Form 1040-ES to make a quarterly estimated tax payment, or you can make a payment directly online at the IRS website.
It's brief, but here's a good initial resource on being self-employed in CA: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/filing-situations/self-employed.html
And a specific link on CA estimated tax payments: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/pay/estimated-tax-payments.html
There are lots of different expenses you can take as a contractor, including potentially for using your own equipment or using a home office. Here are some more resources on that:
I hope that information is helpful to you, but please feel free to ask follow-up questions in the thread. I'll keep an eye out and continue to answer any new questions you have!
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