Quarterly estimated tax due dates 2027

The 2027 dates

Payment 1: April 15, 2027 · covers income from January 1 to March 31
Payment 2: June 15, 2027 · covers April 1 to May 31
Payment 3: September 15, 2027 · covers June 1 to August 31
Payment 4: January 18, 2028 · covers September 1 to December 31

The fourth payment moves to Tuesday, January 18, 2028 because January 15 falls on a Saturday and Monday, January 17 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. When a due date falls on a weekend or a federal holiday, it moves to the next business day.

Why the periods are uneven

The second payment covers only two months (April and May), and the fourth covers four. So the June payment comes just eight weeks after the April one. If you set money aside monthly, June is the payment most likely to come up short; plan for it in May.

Who has to pay

In general, you need to make estimated payments if you expect to owe at least $1,000 in federal tax for 2027 after withholding and refundable credits. That is common with freelance, gig, side-hustle or small business income, where nobody withholds tax for you. Your state may have its own estimated tax rules and dates; check them separately.

The January exception

You can skip the January 18, 2028 payment if you file your 2027 return by January 31, 2028 and pay the full balance with it. Most people do not have their documents that early, so in practice the fourth payment is the normal route.

How to pay

• IRS Direct Pay: from a bank account, no fee, no registration.
• Your IRS Online Account: pay and see past payments in one place.
• EFTPS: the Treasury's payment system, useful to schedule all four payments in advance.
• Debit or credit card through an IRS-approved processor, which charges a fee.
• Check by mail with a Form 1040-ES voucher.

Choose "estimated tax" and the correct tax year (2027) when you pay. A payment applied to the wrong year is one of the most common and most annoying mix-ups.

Late or short payments

If you pay less than required by a due date, the IRS charges an underpayment penalty on the shortfall for each quarter, calculated like interest for the days it was late. Paying more in a later quarter stops it from growing but does not erase the earlier part. The penalty is figured on Form 2210. If your income is uneven, for example most of it arrives in the fall, the annualized income method on Form 2210 can lower or remove the penalty for the early quarters.

Set reminders now

Put the four dates in your calendar with a reminder two weeks before each one, and set aside a share of every payment you receive in a separate savings account, so the money is there on the due date.

To work out how much each payment should be, use the free quarterly estimated tax calculator. The method is explained in how to calculate quarterly estimated taxes, and the minimum that avoids the penalty in the safe harbor rule.

General information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Examples use made-up numbers.