Hi experts,
My apologies in advance for the dumb question. After ending my W2 employment last year, I recently started freelance work in January of this year. As such, I was not even aware that I had to pay quarterly taxes until I received an invite to this event.
Now that I learned of this, I also realize that I am potentially behind on payments since 2 quarters have already gone by. I've read conflicting information online regarding whether first-timers have to pay quarterly taxes -- some resources say that this has to be based off your previous year tax filing, whereas other resources say that last year data is irrelevant.
So I basically have 2 questions:
1. Given that this is my first time as a freelancer, and thus have no previous year freelance work income to base anything from, am I responsible for quarterly taxes this year or do my obligations start next year?
2. If I am responsible for payments this year, is there any way to avoid penalties for my 2 previous missed payments? In other words, can I pay my entire 2023 estimated taxes during the Q3 date to avoid penalties?
Many thanks, all!
