Annualizing 2024 interest income

[MG919]

I underpaid my taxes and must annualize my income. Here is why: I had no W2 wages for the first 8 months of 2024 after being laid off, just interest bearing accounts. Also, I sold a large amount of stock in December. When I went back to work at the end of the year, not enough was taken out of my paycheck. My struggle is reconciling interest income on many small bank accounts and investments I have. Q: Will the IRS allow me to take the total annual interest from each account and divide by 12 to then estimate the quarterly interest that was accrued?

[DianeW777]

Yes, you can take your annual interest amounts and divide by 12 to arrive at the amount per month. If you know you will sell any stocks during the year you can make your 15% -20% estimated at that time without the need to calculate the unknown right now. 

If you do have a large gain during the year, you may need to use the annualized method to eliminate penalty for underpayment next year.  See the information below for additional information to eliminate any underpayment penalty next year.  

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 2023 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.

TurboTax does not allow blank forms however you can change the numbers once they are printed and you are also allowed to pay your estimated tax at the IRS Payments site online.