Get expert tax and accounting help!
Call (866) 681-2140
Call (866) 681-2140
The hard part of quarterly taxes is rarely the arithmetic. It is having the cash ready four separate times a year when nothing is being withheld for you. Miss one date and the penalty clock starts, even if you pay in full later. A working system fixes that.
Those same four dates hold most years, but when one falls on a weekend or holiday it rolls forward to the next business day. The quirk worth knowing: the “quarters” are uneven. The second period covers only two months, so do not assume the dates are spaced three months apart.
Rather than a fixed dollar figure, set aside a percentage of each payment as it comes in. The right percentage depends on your profit and any other income, and we set it with you so the quarterly payment is funded before the date arrives.
What that percentage is built from, and why the self-employed number runs high (the 15.3 percent self-employment layer), is its own topic. See self employed quarterly taxes for the full calculation.
Move the set-aside into an account you do not touch, the day you are paid. The people who never get caught short treat that money as though it was never theirs to spend.
A bank transfer with no account to create. Fast for a single payment.
Free to use, and you can line up all four payments ahead of time, about as close to set-and-forget as quarterly taxes get.
The paper route; mail a check alongside the voucher if that's your preference.
Scheduling the full year inside EFTPS or Form 1040-ES in one sitting is what keeps a missed date from ever happening.
Most penalties come down to one thing: the money was not set aside when the date arrived. A reminder that a payment is due does nothing on its own. Our job is to make the set-aside and the date move together, so the payment is funded before it is due.
From George Dimov, CPA:
What a CPA does that an app can't: an app reminds you a date is near. A CPA sets the set-aside percentage, schedules the four payments, and resets them when your income changes, so the reminder is always funded.
Make sure to reach out as soon as you have the question. Don’t wait until the questions pile up. Get all your questions answered right away.
I came for personal and now LLC taxes... super detailed, thorough, and also efficient and expedient.
Setup cost depends on how you get paid, whether your books are current, and whether you want us to run the payments or just build the system. We quote it after we see your income pattern. Reach out if any of these fit:
Set up right, quarterly taxes for self employed stop being a deadline you dread and become a number that is already funded.
Tell us how you get paid, and we will build the schedule, the set-aside, and the payment method with you.
