If you’re self-employed or earn income that is not subject to tax withholding such as rents, prizes, awards, interest, or alimony, or if you don’t have enough tax withheld from your salary or pension, you will need to make estimated tax payments throughout the year or face a hefty penalty at tax time.Self-employed individuals will also need to pay an extra self-employment tax on top of their regular income taxes. Estimating your tax payments isn’t too complicated. The IRS has worksheets you can use to calculate your quarterly payments. In general, if you anticipate owing over $1000 after subtracting your credits and current withholding, you should pay estimated tax payments. This number is adjusted by the IRS periodically.Estimated tax payment requirements vary for individuals, sole proprietors, corporations, and farmers and fishermen. Check with the IRS for guidance.For the self-employed, use Form 1040-ES from the IRS to make your calculations. Use your previous year’s tax return as a guide. This will come in handy when doing rough calculations as far as your deductions, expected income, and so forth. Take into account any expected changes both in your own situation as well as tax laws.The worksheet includes a tax rate schedule that you will need to refer to once you’ve come up with a figure of taxable income. In addition, you will need to pay self-employment tax on top of the regular income tax. Pay attention to the instructions for calculating this tax as there are different rates once you pass a certain self-employment income threshold.In addition, only 92.35% of your self-employment income is currently subject to the tax so you will first need to multiply you self-employment income times.9235 to get the amount that is subject to the extra self-employment tax. For example, if you expect to earn $30,000 as a self-employed individual, $27,705 will be subject to the additional self-employment tax. At the current rate of 15.3%, the self-employment tax would be $4239. It’s important to realize that this is in addition to regular income tax.As you work through the worksheet, you will have your final figure representing your estimated taxes for the year. If you will owe over $1000, you will then divide that number by four. You will then be responsible for making four quarterly estimated tax payments for that amount according to a schedule set up by the IRS. Depending on the calendar, the payment due dates vary from year to year. However in general, the first payment is due in mid-April, the second is due in mid-June, the third is due in mid-September, and the final payment in due in mid-January of the following year. Payment vouchers are included on the 1040-ES worksheet.As the year progresses, your estimated income may fluctuate. You can use the worksheet to recalculate your estimated taxes and amend your remaining estimated payments. Doing this will ensure that you won’t be left owing more than you anticipated should you earn more money than you thought. It also ensures that you aren’t overpaying the taxes either.Because you will need to pay these taxes one way or the other, it makes sense to be aware of the taxes with every check you cash. Figure out what percentage of every dollar you earn needs to be put aside for taxes and sock that money away immediately into an account specifically designated for your taxes.
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