Quarterly estimated tax dates for 2026

Miss all four quarterly payments on a $6,800 shortfall and the §6654 penalty runs about $136 at the Q1-2026 rate. Miss one and it is smaller still. The dates matter — but the stakes are modest, and knowing the math beats dreading it.

The four dates

Each estimated payment covers income earned in a specific window, and the due date falls about two weeks after the window closes[1]:

The windows are not calendar quarters — the second covers two months, the fourth covers four. The due dates are statutory and hold unless one lands on a weekend or holiday.

Who must pay

You owe estimated payments if you expect to owe $1,000 or more at filing after withholding and credits[1]. A salary with correct W-4 withholding almost never crosses that line. RSU vests, stock sales, bonuses, freelance income, and rent do — they arrive with too little withheld, or none.

How much to send

Each payment should bring you to a quarter of the smaller of two targets: 90% of your 2026 tax, or 100% of your 2025 tax — 110% if your 2025 AGI was over $150,000[1]. The prior-year target is the one you can compute today; the current-year target depends on income you have not earned yet. The safe-harbor guide → works the targets in full; the 110% rule guide → covers the high-AGI target.

Withholding counts as paid evenly — estimates do not

Here is the lever most people miss. Tax withheld from a paycheck is treated as paid evenly across all four quarters, no matter when in the year it actually leaves your check[1]. An estimated payment counts only from the date you send it. That makes December withholding retroactive and a December estimated payment late for three quarters.

If you discover a gap late in the year — a November vest, a December sale — raising your W-4 withholding for the remaining paychecks closes it as if you had paid all year. The same dollars sent as a Q4 estimate on January 15 still leave the earlier quarters short.

Worked example: $120,000 salary, $60,000 of gains

Say you earn $120,000 in wages and sell stock for $60,000 of long-term gains in 2026. Last year’s total tax was $28,000 and your AGI was over $150,000, so the 110% harbor applies. This year’s tax lands ≈ $35,750, but your required annual payment is the cheaper harbor: 110% of last year — $30,800. You have withheld $24,000 — a $6,800 shortfall. Split across the four dates, that is $1,700 per quarter. Pay it and the year closes clean.

What if you skip the safe-harbor math and just pay the $6,800 with your return? Your required payment for the year is $30,800 (the 110% harbor — your 2025 AGI was over $150,000). You paid $24,000 through the year and $6,800 at filing. The penalty applies to the $6,800 for the time it was unpaid: ≈ $136 at the 7% Q1-2026 rate[2] — an interest charge, not a fine.

Miss just the Q1 payment of $1,700 and the same math puts the charge at ≈ $119 (derived from the same rate and window, not engine-executed). The dates are worth hitting; the cost of missing one is worth knowing.

Check your own position: safe-harbor status calculator →

How the penalty interacts with uneven income

The penalty is figured per quarter, so a year where income arrives in October looks underpaid in April on the default math. Form 2210's annualized-income installment lets you match each quarter's required payment to the income that actually arrived by then[4]. The safe-harbor guide → covers when it helps and when the plain harbors are simpler.

Watch the line

Four dates a year is twelve too few. The monitor watches your coverage every day, so an October vest is already handled when April arrives. Join the waitlist below.

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