Am I supposed to pay estimated quarterly taxes for my new business?

[aria]

I'm an independent artist. I started my business (sole proprietorship) this year in January but I have yet to actually start my business in terms of income. I'm still sorting things out so I have no business activity yet but will hopefully soon. Am I required to pay estimated quarterly taxes this year or do I not have to worry about it since this is my first year in business? I've been doing a lot of research but I'm still really confused. If I do have to pay, how do I do it?

[VolvoGirl]

The first year you don't need to pay estimates as long as you pay in (by withholding) as much as your tax was last year.  But if you will have a big income you should send in estimates so you don't owe too much next April on your tax return.

Estimates are optional to pay.  For SE self employment tax - if you have a net profit (after expenses) of $400 or more you will pay 15.3% SE Tax on 92.35% of your net profit in addition to your regular income tax on it. So if you have other income like W2 income your extra business income might put you into a higher tax bracket.

Here is the blank 1040ES and Instructions
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf">https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf</a>

[VolvoGirl]

If you don't have any income or a Net Profit you don't have to pay any estimates.

And for new self employment Some general info.  You will need to keep good records.  You may get a 1099Misc at the end of the year if someone pays you more than $600 but you need to report all your income no matter how small.  You might want to use Quicken or QuickBooks to keep track of your income and expenses.  

There is also QuickBooks Self Employment bundle you can check out which includes one Turbo Tax Online Self Employed  return....
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://quickbooks.intuit.com/self-employed">http://quickbooks.intuit.com/self-employed</a>

To report your self employment income you will fill out schedule C in your personal 1040 tax return and pay SE self employment Tax.  You will need to use the Online Self Employed version or any Desktop program but the Desktop Home & Business version will have the most help.

Self Employment tax (Scheduled SE) is automatically generated if a person has $400 or more of net profit from self-employment.  You pay 15.3% SE tax on 92.35% of your Net Profit greater than $400.  The 15.3% self employed SE Tax is to pay both the employer part and employee part of Social Security and Medicare.  So you get social security credit for it when you retire.  You do get to take off the 50% ER portion of the SE tax as an adjustment on Schedule 1 line 27.  The SE tax is already included in your tax due or reduced your refund.  It is on the Schedule 4 line 57.  The SE tax is in addition to your regular income tax on the net profit.

Here is some IRS reading material……

IRS information on Self Employment
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Self-Employed-Individuals-Tax-Center"...>

Pulication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p334.pdf">http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p334.pdf</a>

Publication 535 Business Expenses
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p535.pdf">http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p535.pdf</a>

[Critter]

If this info is too confusing then I highly recommend you sit down with a bookkeeper and/or tax preparer to get educated and to set up your books correctly.

[Critter · Accepted solution]

Do I need to make estimated tax payments to the IRS?

PAYING ESTIMATES
For SE self employment tax - if you have a net profit (after expenses) of $400 or more you will pay 15.3% for 2015  SE Tax on 92.35% of your net profit in addition to your regular income tax on it. So if you have other income like W2 income your extra business income might put you into a higher tax bracket.

You must make quarterly estimated tax payments for the current tax year (or next year) if both of the following apply:
- 1. You expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax for the current tax year, after subtracting your withholding and credits. 
 
- 2. You expect your withholding and credits to be less than the smaller of: 
    90% of the tax to be shown on your current year’s tax return, or 
  100% of the tax shown on your prior year’s tax return. (Your prior year tax return must cover all 12 months.)

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  How do I make estimated tax payments?

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