Generally, taxpayers do not want to pay penalties because they paid in less taxes during the year than required so here are the Federal Rules
There will be no federal penalties in 2024 for not paying in enough taxes during the year if withholding
1) and timely estimated tax payments equal or exceed 90% of your 2023 tax or
2) and timely estimated tax payments equal or exceed 100% of your 2023 tax (110% if your 2023 adjusted gross income was more than $150K) or
3) the balance due after subtracting taxes withheld from 90% of your 2024 tax is less than $1,000 or
4) your total taxes are less than $1,000
unless either 3 or 4 are met the lower of 1 or 2 is your required annual income tax payment. 1, 3 and 4 are difficult to know until the year-end so generally 2 is the safest option. under the simplified method 25% of the taxes must be paid in each quarter by 4/15, 6/15, 9/15 and 1/15/25. Unless you can show otherwise 25% of your annual withholding is assumed to occur in each quarter while estimated tax payments are paid on the date postmarked (if not using an office postal meter - then the IRS uses the date received)
failing this and being subject to penalties you can use the annualized installment income method.
this method requires knowing your income and deductions thru 3/31, then 5/31, then 8/31, and finally tear end which should be the same as the tax return. the income is annualized. taxes are computed on the annualized income and then de- annualized. your tax payments for each period must equal or exceed these amounts to avoid penalties.
