Does TurboTax have tools to help estimate the taxes I’ll owe as an independent contractor? I have no history as a stay at home mom for a few years and it’s mid year.

[Ruthlilycat]

Hi, not sure if this will help but it does say it will estimate what you'll get in a refund or what you'll owe.  I really hope it helps!

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster

[Bees]

I hope you are keeping business records of both your expenses and your income. Check out the Quicken forums for tips on that.

 You will owe self employment taxes on your net income that amount to 12.4% of that income plus 2.9% for medicare. You will owe federal taxes on your profits according to the tax brackets for your filing status. They want to have money paid in throughout the year in quarterly installments. So you should make a September 15 estimated quarterly payment if you think you have a liability.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/self-employment-taxes/beginners-tax-guide-for-the-self-employed...

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/professional/complete-list-of-self-employed-expenses-and-tax-deducti...

[Carl]

While the IRS does provide forms and worksheets for figuring your estimated taxes each quarter at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf in my opinion (and we all know what opinions are like) it's a waste of time and effort.

I've been self-employed for just over 15 years now. Every quarter I send the IRS 20% of my gross business income and that's it. Come tax filing time I have "always" been within $500 of my tax liability. For 13 of my 15 years of self-employment I've always got a refund with this method. For the two years I actually owed more to the IRS, it was less than $500. ($472 was my biggest check I wrote to the IRS.)

There are some rules on this. Basically, if at tax filing time if you owe the IRS and what you owe is more than $1000 or more than 10% of your total tax liability, whichever is *HIGHER*, then you will be assessed an underpayment penalty.

In your fist year of business if what you paid into the IRS (to include any W-2 withholdings) is 100% or more of your last year's tax liability, then no underpayment penalty will be assessed provided you pay the balance due in full at tax filing time and before the deadline.