Quarterly Estimated Tax
Find your 2026 safe-harbor payment target and estimate the penalty for late or short regular installments.
- Methods explained
- Save scenarios
- Compare saved scenarios
- Chart
- Household prefill
Annual tax and safe harbor
Tax means the applicable Form 1040-ES / 2210 tax after credits, including self-employment and other included taxes. Withholding is credited equally on the four due dates.
Actual payments
Enter payments toward 2026 tax. Future-dated payments are included only when the calculation date reaches them. An early payment covers the oldest unpaid installment first.
Safe-harbor target
Meeting a safe harbor can avoid an underpayment penalty while leaving tax due with your return. Each installment must be timely.
Installments
| Due date | Regular target | Still unpaid |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-15 | $2,500 | $0 |
| 2026-06-15 | $2,500 | $500 |
| 2026-09-15 | $2,500 | $4,500 |
| 2027-01-15 | $2,500 | Not yet due |
Late-payment estimate
Published rates: 2026 Q1 7%, Q2 6%, Q3 7%, Q4 7%. The calculation stops at the return due date. No future rate is assumed.
Penalty by period
| Period | Days | Rate | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-16 – 2026-06-30 | 15 | 6% | $6 |
| 2026-07-01 – 2026-09-15 | 77 | 7.000000000000001% | $37 |
| 2026-09-16 – 2026-09-30 | 15 | 7.000000000000001% | $1 |
| 2026-10-01 – 2026-12-31 | 92 | 7.000000000000001% | $9 |
| 2026-09-16 – 2026-09-30 | 15 | 7.000000000000001% | $13 |
| 2026-10-01 – 2026-12-31 | 92 | 7.000000000000001% | $79 |
How it works›
Safe harbor. Uses the smaller of 90% of current tax or 100% of eligible prior tax; 110% of prior tax applies above the AGI threshold. The prior-year method requires a 12-month qualifying year. Enter tax after the credits specified by the worksheets, not merely the balance due on the return.2026 Publication 5052026 Form 1040-ES
Penalty timing. Regular equal installments only. Withholding is allocated one quarter per due date; a timely prior overpayment is credited in April. Payments cover older underpayments first. Simple daily interest starts the day after a due date and includes the payment day. Rows round to cents for display; the total rounds once.Form 2210 instructionsPublished quarterly rates
Exceptions outside this model. No annualized-income method, farmers/fishers rules, disaster postponements, waivers, actual-date withholding election or early-return January exception. Latest final Form 2210 mechanics are paired with published 2026 due dates and rates.Form 2210 exceptions