I am new to receiving 1099-misc. How do I go about setting up regular payments to the IRS so I avoid getting penalized?

[katie-gerber62]

I am a personal trainer for a gym. The gym was recently bought by another company. The new company is treating us like independent contractors and thus not taking out any taxes, social security or Medicare. I am learning that if I continue to work here, I should be paying these items throughout the year so not to get penalized at tax filing time. My employer has not told me any of this. 

[LisaBr · Accepted solution]

If your employer will be paying you with a 1099-MISC and not withholding taxes, this will protect you from being hit with a large tax bill next year.

Here is how to set up Estimated Payments for 2018:

1.  Go to Federal, then go to Other Tax Situations.

2.  At the bottom of this area, select Other Tax Forms.

3.  Choose Form W-4 and Estimated Taxes.

4.  Skip past the W-4 section and choose Prepare Now for Estimated Taxes for 2018.

The program immediately takes the information from this year and creates estimated payments for the upcoming year.

If you choose to make adjustments, TurboTax will walk you through the various areas and you can increase or decrease the income or deductions for this estimation.

Vouchers will be printed for you to make quarterly payments. 

I want to point out that the IRS does not send out any kind of receipt of payment.  You will need to keep up with when and how much is paid quarterly to report on your 2018 taxes.