How does not having steady income affect my taxes?

[TeriH]

Taxes are calculated off of the full year's income.   When you are self employed, you are expected to make quarterly payments matching your income for the quarter.   The fact that it's uneven throughout the year is irrelevant, except if , for example , all of the income was earned in December.  The IRS is a pay as you go system.  W2 jobs remit each paycheck.  So, if you get to the end and you had a large windfall in the last part of the year, you would want to use the annualized method to recalculate that penalty.  That's form 2210 and TurboTax will prompt you to complete it.

[Lydia23]

Hi Kerry-Kiang,

What effect your taxes is the amount of income and how much taxes was withheld throughout the year, if you are referring to W-2 income.   If your income is not steady you just pay taxes on the amount of income you earn.  If your standard deduction reduces your tax liability to zero, you may not have taxable income and everything you paid throughout the year for taxes will be returned to you.  

Thanks, 

Lydia