When are quarterly estimated taxes due?
A Florida guide.
By Karina · Universal Taxes & More · Last reviewed August 2026
If you earn money that nobody withholds taxes from — self-employment, 1099 contracting, rental income, an S-corp draw — the IRS doesn't want to wait until April. It wants four payments through the year. Here's the whole system in plain language: the dates, who owes, how much to set aside, and the penalty everyone finds out about one year too late.
The four deadlines
Estimated taxes follow the same rhythm every year (when a date lands on a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next business day):
Notice the spacing is uneven — the "quarters" are 3, 2, 3, and 4 months long. Q2 surprises everyone.
Who has to pay
As a rule of thumb: if you expect to owe the IRS money at filing time because nothing was withheld during the year, you're in estimated-tax territory. In Southwest Florida that's most commonly the self-employed and 1099 contractors, landlords, S-corp owners whose salary withholding doesn't cover their full tax, and retirees with investment income. One piece of good news for Florida residents: there is no Florida personal income tax, so individuals only deal with the federal side.
How much to pay
The IRS gives you two "safe harbor" targets — hit either one across your four payments and you won't owe an underpayment penalty, even if your final bill is bigger:
- 100% of last year's tax (110% for higher incomes) — the predictable route: take last year's total tax, divide by four.
- 90% of this year's tax — better when income is dropping, but it requires books current enough to estimate honestly.
Payments go in with Form 1040-ES — or, if you also have a W-2 job, you can often skip the whole exercise by raising your withholding instead, since withholding counts as paid evenly through the year no matter when it happens.
The penalty nobody warns you about: underpayment interest accrues quarter by quarter. Paying your full tax in April does not erase a missed June payment — the meter already ran. This is exactly what our quarterly reviews exist to prevent: we calculate each payment in the room, from your real numbers.
Your 10-minute setup
- Put all four dates in your phone now — April 15, June 15, September 15, January 15
- Move a fixed percentage of every deposit into a separate tax account — automatically, the day you get paid
- Keep your books current — an estimate is only as good as the numbers under it
- Recheck the math every quarter — income changes, and so should the payment
Quick answers
What happens if I miss an estimated tax payment?
The IRS charges an underpayment penalty that accrues from the quarter you missed — paying everything in April doesn't erase it. If you've missed a quarter, pay as soon as you can and adjust the remaining payments. We can recalculate the rest of your year in one sit-down.
Does Florida have state estimated taxes?
Florida has no personal state income tax, so individuals only make federal estimated payments. Certain corporations do owe Florida corporate income tax with its own estimated schedule — if your business is a C-corporation, that's a conversation worth having with us.
Can my W-2 withholding cover my side-income taxes?
Often, yes — increasing withholding at your job is one of the cleanest ways to cover taxes on 1099 or side income, because withholding is treated as paid evenly through the year. We'll run the numbers and set your W-4 so the math actually works.
General information, not tax advice for your specific situation — deadlines and thresholds can change. For numbers tailored to you, talk to us.