bdevy.

Professional services

Quarterly Tax Calculator

Quarterly estimated payments, including the safe harbour amount that avoids penalties.

Your numbers

$
%
Income tax plus self-employment tax.
$
$
%
Often 110% for higher incomes. Check the current rule.

Result

Each quarterly payment $5,200
Projected tax for the year $28,800
Safe harbour total $24,000
Amount you must pay in $20,800
Basis used Safe harbour on last year
Pay $5,200 per quarter, totalling $20,800. The lower of projected tax ($28,800) and safe harbour ($24,000) governs, so the basis here is Safe harbour on last year.

Not tax advice, and not a filing calculation. This estimates what to set aside using rates you supply. Brackets, thresholds, deductions, credits and state rules change every year and interact with the rest of your return in ways no single calculator models. Confirm anything that affects a payment or a filing with an accountant. Safe harbour rules let you avoid an underpayment penalty by paying a set percentage of the prior year's tax even if you end up owing more, which is useful when income is unpredictable. The percentage rises for higher incomes and the rules change; confirm the current figures. Payment deadlines are not evenly spaced across the year.

Get a Free Business Audit

Questions

About this calculator

What is the safe harbour?

Paying a specified percentage of last year's total tax generally avoids an underpayment penalty regardless of what you actually owe. It is valuable when this year's income is hard to predict.

What happens if I skip a quarter?

Penalties accrue by quarter, so catching up in December does not undo an underpayment from April. The penalty is calculated period by period.

Are the quarters evenly spaced?

No. The due dates are not three months apart and the payment periods differ in length, which surprises people the first year.

The formula

required = the lower of projected tax and the safe harbour percentage of last year's tax, less withholding

Put this calculator on your site

Free to embed. Paste this where you want it to appear. It stays up to date automatically because it loads from BDEVY.

Please keep the attribution line. It is the only thing we ask in return.

Estimating is the easy part

The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.