Quarterly taxes

[Mahaugh98]

I live in NH and, so far, have accumulated a gross income of $1,641.21 from freelance/self-employment work. I am filing as single. Do I still have to pay quarterly taxes? From my understanding, if I owe less than $1,000 in federal income taxes, I'm Not required to make quarterly/estimated payments. Is this correct? I owed nowhere near $1,000 last year. 

However, I did make an estimated payment on June 15th for $75. Did I have to? I did not make one for the due date in April because, at the time, I didn't know about quarterly taxes. If I didn’t have to, would the IRS use that money as a tax credit when I file my return in April? 

If I did have to pay it, was it too little? Can I avoid penalties by paying more for the following due dates in September and January? 

[Anonymous]

Hello Mahaugh98,

Thank you for participating in the Ask the Experts event. As to your question, if you end up owing less than $1,000 in taxes you should be fine with what you paid and, yes, the $75 you paid will go toward what you owe.

Whether you had to or not may depend on where you end up at the end of the year. It's tricky being self-employed because our income may not be consistently the same throughout the year. If that's the case, the IRS does have the option when filing to see if any penalty can be waived because of that inconsistency. 

Here is an excellent article to help you more:  A Guide to Paying Quarterly Taxes

I hope that helps.