Quarterly Taxes for Freelancers: What to Pay and When
How estimated quarterly taxes work when you are self-employed: what you owe, the four due dates, and the safe-harbour rule that prevents IRS penalties.
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If you work for yourself, nobody is withholding tax from your income. The IRS still wants its money throughout the year rather than in one lump the following April, so it asks you to estimate what you will owe and pay it in four instalments.
Most people meet this system by getting a penalty notice. Here is how it works before that happens.
You owe two taxes, not one
This is the part that catches people who have only ever had a salary. As a freelancer you pay:
- Federal income tax, at the same graduated rates everyone pays, and
- Self-employment tax, which is Social Security and Medicare.
When you were an employee, you paid half of Social Security and Medicare and your employer paid the other half. Self-employed, you are both, so you pay both halves.
That 15.3% applies to 92.35% of your profit, not all of it. The reduction exists to mirror the deduction an employer gets for its half of payroll tax. Social Security stops at a wage base — $184,500 for 2026 — while Medicare continues on every dollar.
The number that surprises people
On $80,000 of profit, self-employment tax alone is about $11,300 — before a single dollar of income tax. That is why "set aside 20%" advice leaves so many freelancers short in April.
When the payments are due
Four dates, and they are not evenly spaced. The second period is two months long, not three, which is the one that catches people out.
| Quarter | Income earned | Payment due |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 1 January – 31 March | 15 April 2026 |
| Q2 | 1 April – 31 May | 15 June 2026 |
| Q3 | 1 June – 31 August | 15 September 2026 |
| Q4 | 1 September – 31 December | 15 January 2027 |
If a due date lands on a weekend or a federal holiday, it moves to the next business day.
The safe harbour is the rule worth knowing
Here is the part that saves the most money and stress, and the part most freelance tax guides skip.
You do not have to predict this year's tax correctly. You only have to pay the lesser of:
- 90% of what you end up owing this year, or
- 100% of what you owed last year — 110% if last year's adjusted gross income was over $150,000.
Hit either number across your four payments and the IRS cannot charge an underpayment penalty, even if you end up owing considerably more in April.
Why this matters in a good year
Say you owed $9,000 last year and this year is going much better — you are on track to owe $30,000. Pay $9,000 across the four quarters and you are protected. You will owe the remaining $21,000 by the April filing deadline, but with no penalty, and you keep the use of that cash in the meantime.
The catch is the mirror image: in a year where your income drops sharply, paying last year's tax means overpaying. That is when you want the 90%-of-this-year route instead. The calculator picks whichever is lower once you give it last year's figures.
What reduces the bill
Three deductions do most of the work for a one-person business:
- Half of your self-employment tax comes off your income automatically. You do not have to itemise to get it.
- The standard deduction — $16,100 for a single filer in 2026, $32,200 filing jointly. Most freelancers take this rather than itemising.
- The qualified business income deduction under Section 199A, worth up to 20% of your business profit. It phases out for service businesses at higher incomes, but below the threshold it is close to automatic.
Retirement contributions are the biggest lever you actually control. A solo 401(k) lets you contribute as both employee and employer, and it comes off your taxable income.
State tax is not in any of this
Everything above is federal. Most states levy their own income tax with their own estimated payment schedule, and a few cities do too. Check your state's revenue department separately — the calculator on this page does not cover it.
How to actually pay
The simplest route is IRS Direct Pay, which takes a payment straight from a bank account with no fee. You can also use EFTPS, which requires enrolment in advance. Keep a record of each payment — you will need the totals when you file.
A sensible routine
Open a separate savings account. Every time a client pays you, move a percentage across immediately, before the money feels like yours. Run the numbers properly once a quarter rather than guessing, and adjust the percentage if your income has shifted.
The freelancers who find this painless are not the ones with the best spreadsheet. They are the ones who never treat the tax money as available in the first place.