Question on the need to pay estimated tax for 2019

[johncklai]

Hi,

For 2018 tax return I need to make a payment and Turbo tax concluded that I will have to make estimated tax payments for 2019.   The reason why i have to pay for 2018 is because I exercised my company stocks and that pushed me way over my normal total income.    For year 2019 I am pretty certain that I will get a refund (since I max out my tax withholding usually and i have mortgage interest) and my total income will be much less than 2018.  Based on this information, is it necessary for me to make estimated tax payment for 2019?   Also, if i do have to make estimated tax payment, do i need to pay all 4 payments or I just need to make enough est tax payments (like 2 instead of 4) to cover the potential taxes that I will owe?

Thanks

[AnnetteB · Accepted solution]

No, it is not necessary for you to make the estimated payments just because the vouchers printed with your return.  If your income situation will be different for 2019 it is fine to ignore the estimated payment suggestion. 

For the second part of your question, the idea of making the payments on a quarterly basis is so that you are paying as you go.  Making only 2 payments instead of 4 would probably be ok, unless there was still and underpayment situation at the time of filing your tax return. 

For more information, see the TurboTax article below.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3301872

[johncklai]

Thank you very much 🙂

[AnnetteB]

You're welcome!