Underpayment penalty in GA

Forum|Forum|6 months ago
February 18, 2026
1 reply
99 views

Hello,

For tax year 2025, I had a lot of additional income from an out-of-state summer internship that was not subject to withholding in GA. I made an estimated tax payment on 6/16/2025 (1 day late, I know) and another one on 9/15/2025.

From my understanding, under the safe harbor rule, I should incur no penalty if I made quarterly payments on time that meet or exceed my 2024 tax. If it matters, in 2024 my filing status was single, this year it will be married filing jointly.

In 2024, my tax was $1,630.

My cumulative tax payments to GA (withholding and estimated payments) from 1/1/2025 to the respective quarterly deadlines:

4/15/2025: $318

6/15/2025: $442

9/15/2025: $2,673

4/15/2026: $3,172

My total GA tax for 2025 is $3,376. I can also claim around $961 in taxes paid to my internship state, so I would actually be due a refund of over $500. My problem is that TurboTax is claiming that I owe an underpayment penalty to GA in the amount of $84. Does this seem accurate? It seems to me that had I made my June estimated payment on time (1 day earlier), I should have been able to avoid this entirely. How does TurboTax arrive at this value?

Thank you very much in advance!

ThomasM125

Level 15

I'm not sure if the penalty assessed is accurate or not. The penalty is influenced in TurboTax based on your tax due, the estimated payment information you entered in the program, your income for the year and your tax liability from the previous year. Also, the the penalty is just an estimate, it may be adjusted to actual by the taxing authorities when they process your tax return.

In order for TurboTax to properly estimate your tax penalty and report key information to the taxing authorities, you will have to complete the Underpayment/late payment interest and penalty section which you will find in the Other Situations menu tab in the Georgia tax return section of TurboTax. That will give you an opportunity to enter key amounts and dates that may affect the estimated penalty assessed.

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