Is there a way to get Turbotax 2025 to calculate 2026 estimated tax payments other than the automated vouchers?

[anonymouse1]

Our first quarter 2026 income is vastly different from 1/4 of our 2025 income - is there a worksheet I can edit manually to determine what the estimated tax payment due by April 15 should be to avoid a penalty later, even if withholding and smaller payments later in the year result in a refund?

[MaryK4]

Yes, you can manually adjust 2026 estimated tax payments in TurboTax 2025 to reflect fluctuating income. Navigate to the Federal > Other Tax Situations tab, select Start next to Estimated Taxes for 2026 to adjust income/withholding estimates, overriding the automatic vouchers. 

[anonymouse1]

But that's just to adjust the estimated tax payments to a number I choose.  I'm looking or help in deciding on that number to avoid penalties and interest.  I understand that if you under-withhold in the first quarter, even if you owe nothing by the time you make the 4th quarter payment (or file, if before the end of January), that you can STILL be assessed penalties and interest?

My husband had a large bonus paid the other day (he gets a bonus every March and it hasn't required estimated payments), but he also got RSUs paid for the first time a couple of weeks ago.  While the company did withhold, I'm not sure what percentage from the RSUs, they withheld less than our marginal rate from the bonus.  Those two things coupled with a planned Roth conversion later in the year (may wait until the last quarter, though if the stock market drops a lot it may be any time) make me nervous that we may not be withholding enough, especially in the first quarter and if we make the Roth conversion(s) all in one quarter (hopefully not this month, but if there's a 20% drop in the market we should probably take advantage of it).  So how can you do a trial run of form 2210 now based on the first quarter income, and make sure to pay enough?  I tried the IRS's online calculator and it just said after I entered income to date that we were withholding too much and would get a $25,000 or something refund.

Four times our first quarter income would put us in the 35% bracket, but when I project how much our income for the next 3 quarters will be (including a Roth conversion), we're only going to be in the 24% bracket.  So do we make an estimated payment based on what our tax would be in the 35% bracket (income more than $100,000 over what I know it's going to be), divided by 4, minus what has been withheld to date?  Then make no more payments?  If we do the Roth conversion in April do we do the same thing, take half of the tax that would be due on that inflated income, subtract what we've already paid from being withheld January-March, plus the April 15 estimated payment, minus what will be withheld April-June, and make up the difference in the June 15 payment?  Then adjust our withholding for the rest of the year so that what ends up being withheld, plus the 2 estimated payments, is within $1000 of our real tax bill (or even slightly more so that we get a refund), just to avoid a penalty for underwithholding the first half of the year?

[DianeW777]

The simplest way to know you can avoid penalties and interest, and keep as much money as you can until you must pay the balance is by making sure you meet the following with your estimated tax payments. Remember, the IRS system is pay as you go, so you don't want your first quarter to be short since it is the longest period to calculate penalty and interest. See a more specific answer for you below.

Generally, you can avoid the penalty if your total timely estimated payments and withholdings are greater than or equal to the lesser of:

• 90% of the total tax after credits for the current year, or
• 100% of the total tax after credits in the prior year
• See one exception below.

You can also avoid the penalty if the amount you owe is less than $1,000 as long as any estimated tax payments you made are timely.

Note: High-income taxpayers. If your adjusted gross income (line 11 of your 2025 Form 1040) is greater than $150,000 (or $75,000 if you're married and file a separate return from your spouse), you can avoid a penalty by paying at least 110% of your total tax from the prior year.

Questions & Answers: 

1. So do we make an estimated payment based on what our tax would be in the 35% bracket (income more than $100,000 over what I know it's going to be), divided by 4, minus what has been withheld to date?  Then make no more payments? 
   1. Always account for and reduce an estimated payment by any withholdings to date. 
   2. Check the tax rate for the taxable income you know you have made in the first quarter (reduced by standard deduction at a minimum) then make an estimated payment based on this quarter only. 
   3. Don't assume you won't need another estimated payment in the next payment period (April & May - due June 15th).
   4. Use the same steps for each quarter if necessary for the future estimated payments- If you find you have enough withholding, then no payment is necessary. 
2. If we do the Roth conversion in April do we do the same thing, take half of the tax that would be due on that inflated income, subtract what we've already paid from being withheld January-March, plus the April 15 estimated payment, minus what will be withheld April-June, and make up the difference in the June 15 payment? 
   1. If you do enter into a Roth Conversion (moving pre-tax IRA/401(k) retirement funds to Roth) in April, you can have 20% withheld if you choose or calculate the estimated tax yourself to make a payment.
   2. For each estimated tax payment period, calculate all income and tax then subtract what's already been paid and withheld. Pay the estimated tax balance. 
   3. Keep these figures for your tax return in case you need to use the Annualized Method to reduce or remove any penalty and Interest from your tax return.

@anonymouse1 

[anonymouse1]

Thanks, I couldn't get the worksheets to work.  I put in what we've had withheld to date, our itemized deductions to date, but it wouldn't let me put in the expected AGI so we could calculate the estimated taxes and/or adjust our withholding.  So I'll go back to pen and paper, and just go by one of the safe harbor limits even though we don't know exactly how much or when we're going to do Roth conversion(s) this year.  So you think it's safe to say that if we receive half of our expected income (including Roth conversions) in the first quarter, we can avoid interest and penalities by paying half the tax (calculated according to the published tax brackets, and assuming in our case we're going to max out the SALT deduction again) in the first quarter?  So make our first estimated payment that half of the tax bill minus what was withheld?

[AmyC]

Yes, making payments the same quarter as the income received is the correct method. Using the safe-harbor method described above will prevent penalties. Generally, to avoid a penalty, you must pay at least 90% of your current year's tax or 100% of last year's tax (110% for high earners).

You might like:

• If you are using desktop, there is a What-If worksheet. It allows you to create different scenarios. Start by copying column1 into another column and change numbers around to see how your taxes are affected.
• The IRS also offers a worksheet, About Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals on page 12.

[anonymouse1]

Where do I find the What-if worksheet?  The IRS calculator isn't any help, it asks what's been earned and withheld to date then tells me we're going to get a huge refund.

I did the federal and state 2210s by hand and while at our current withholding, we'll owe slightly more than $1000 federal, we would have no penalty because we will have withheld more than 110% of last year's tax.  Our state only requires 100% of last year's tax and we're OK there too.  So I don't have to make any estimated tax payments, even if (rounding numbers here) we earned half our income in the first quarter and didn't withhold half the tax bill?  Because we'll make up for it in the middle of the year?  I can also hold off Roth conversions until the last quarter in case there are any surprises, and convert less if for example we earn more interest than I'm anticipating.

The part about possibly owing penalties and interest from the first quarter even if you're getting a refund confuses and frightens me.

[VolvoGirl]

If you have the Desktop program you can do a What-If worksheet.  

Go to Forms Mode, click Forms in the upper right or on the left for Mac. Then click Open Forms box in the top of the column on the left. Open the US listing of forms and towards the bottom find the What-if worksheet. It's right under Estimated Taxes.  

Or try…Go into Forms View. Once there, at the top of the left column, click on the icon for "Open Form". A popup window will appear. In the text line, type the word "what" without quotes. You should see "what-if worksheet" appear as a selection choice. Double-click it to launch the form.

You can play with that.   Then when you get the results you like you can enter it into the estimated tax worksheet and play with that one.

You can switch to Forms mode and open the Estimated Tax Payments Options sheet.  You can even select to print the estimates with just your personal info and no amounts.  You  can play with and tweak the amounts.  You can open the individual 1040ES forms and override the amounts.  I also use the What-If worksheet to help calculate the total tax for 2024 to based my estimates on.

You can print them with the amount you want in the Desktop program.  I used to.  But now I use the preprinted forms the IRS sends me each year and write the amount on it.  Then they fit in the envelopes the IRS sends with them.  Much easier.   Or you can just pay the IRS directly online.  No forms involved.  And you don't have to cut them.

Same for state.  Find the estimates in the state forms.

[anonymouse1]

OK, I filled in what I expect his salary including bonus to be, my pension, took a guess at interest and my planned Roth conversion.  Subtracted my catchup HSA, and used the itemized deduction worksheet to enter our SALT deduction (though the limit goes up in 2026).  How do I get it to calculate?

[MonikaK1]

The What-If Worksheet in TurboTax calculates automatically if you enter figures in another column besides the one that displays the actual entries you made in your return. It is a desktop-only feature used to simulate tax scenarios (like changing income or deductions) without affecting your actual return.  Find it by switching to "Forms Mode", clicking Open Form and entering "What-if" in the search box. 

To calculate, open the worksheet, copy existing data into a new column, fill in filing status/age, and input new figures. For example, it automatically calculates Total Income, Line 22, based on the income and deductions entered.

The first column, Current Tax Return, shows the results based on what you entered in the program. You can set up the other columns using the checkboxes at the top of the form, or you can just enter different figures in the entry fields in another column to see the impact, for example, of making a deductible IRA contribution. 

The Worksheet is also set up to be able to run separate versus joint filing scenarios.

As @VolvoGirl noted, you have the option to make payments directly on the IRS website rather than using the vouchers.

@anonymouse1

[anonymouse1]

The What-if worksheet didn't work for me to estimate 2026 taxes because I could not force it to change some numbers it already had from 2025.  But the Estimated Tax worksheet did work - it looks like we will meet both safe harbor provisions (90% of 2026 taxes and 110% of 2025 taxes) so don't have to worry about underwithholding.  We're very close to the $1000 taxes due at filing provision (slightly over) so I'll make a small estimated payment in April and if our interest is more than I estimated, or we convert more than planned to a Roth, I'll make estimated tax payments in those quarters too (for example, when CDs mature), or the 4th quarter.  As long as we fall under one of those safe harbor provisions, we shouldn't have to worry about having more income in the first quarter than the others.  I still can't figure out how you would plan estimated tax payments per quarter to make up for underwithholding that quarter, because it seems that paying taxes on a $500K income based on $125K earned in the first quarter would result in a huge refund if your income for the year ended up being $250K (especially if your employer kept withholding at the 22% rate).  Nobody's going to give the IRS an interest-free loan like that.  The only practical reason for paying a huge estimated tax payment in the first quarter that I can see would be if most of your income was received in the first quarter (say an RMD you take in January because it's based on end-of-year account balance and you're afraid the stock market is going to go down later in the year) and not enough was withheld, and you know that the income (such as interest and taxable pension, SS benefits, etc.) received throughout the rest of the year was going to be much less, even though you have taxes withheld from that so it wasn't going to make up for the RMD at the beginning of the year and you wouldn't meet the safe harbor requirements.