Free educational tool · Business

Are your federal tax payments keeping pace with the year?

Compare the current-year and prior-year safe-harbor paths, account for expected withholding and payments already made, and identify the next regular installment target.

Uses configurable 2026 IRS rules · Financial inputs stay in your browser

Your planning figures

Compare two federal safe-harbor paths.

Use your expected full-year federal total tax—not taxable income—and the total withholding you expect for the year. Keep your prior-year Form 1040 nearby.

Filing status

Projected 2026 total federal taxExpected total tax after applicable credits; include self-employment and other taxes.

Projected full-year federal withholdingInclude expected withholding from wages, pensions, and other sources.

Prior-year total taxUsually the “total tax” amount from the prior Form 1040.

Prior-year adjusted gross incomeDetermines whether the 100% or 110% prior-year rule applies.

Federal estimated payments already made

Planning dateUsed to identify the next regular installment date.

Payment-pattern facts The prior-year return covered a full 12-month year Income is materially uneven or arrived later in the year

Every financial figure stays in your browser. This form does not send, store, log, or attach your answers to a lead.

This educational estimate is not tax, legal, or investment advice and does not calculate an underpayment penalty. It covers regular federal individual estimated-tax installments only. Special rules, state obligations, disaster relief, fiscal years, farmers and fishers, nonresident taxpayers, estates, trusts, and annualized-income calculations require separate review.

Are your federal tax payments keeping pace with the year?

Compare two federal safe-harbor paths.

Regular installment view

Turn the estimate into a year-round payment strategy.