For tax year 2026, estimated tax is due April 15 and June 15 and September 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027. For tax year 2027: April 15, June 15, and September 15, 2027, and January 18, 2028. The January 2028 date is the shifted one — January 15, 2028 is a Saturday and the following Monday is a federal holiday, so the deadline moves to the next business day. The Quarterly Estimated Tax Calculator sizes each payment; this page is the calendar.
Next deadline
The next estimated-tax deadline is calculated in your browser from the dates on this page. With JavaScript off, use the tables below.
Download all 8 dates as a calendar file (.ics) — one all-day event per deadline, for tax years 2026 and 2027.
Tax year 2026 deadlines
| Payment | Income earned | Due date |
|---|---|---|
| 1st quarter | Jan 1 – Mar 31, 2026 | Wednesday, April 15, 2026 |
| 2nd quarter | Apr 1 – May 31, 2026 | Monday, June 15, 2026 |
| 3rd quarter | Jun 1 – Aug 31, 2026 | Tuesday, September 15, 2026 |
| 4th quarter | Sep 1 – Dec 31, 2026 | Friday, January 15, 2027 |
None of the four 2026 dates needed shifting: each falls on a weekday that is not a District of Columbia holiday. (District of Columbia Emancipation Day falls on Thursday, April 16, 2026 — the day after the first deadline, so it does not move it.)
Tax year 2027 deadlines
| Payment | Income earned | Due date |
|---|---|---|
| 1st quarter | Jan 1 – Mar 31, 2027 | Thursday, April 15, 2027 |
| 2nd quarter | Apr 1 – May 31, 2027 | Tuesday, June 15, 2027 |
| 3rd quarter | Jun 1 – Aug 31, 2027 | Wednesday, September 15, 2027 |
| 4th quarter | Sep 1 – Dec 31, 2027 | Tuesday, January 18, 2028 (shifted — see below) |
Why January 18, 2028: the statutory date, January 15, 2028, is a Saturday. The following Monday, January 17, is the federal Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Under the IRS rule, a due date that falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday in the District of Columbia moves to the next day that is none of those — Tuesday, January 18, 2028. April 15, 2027 does not shift: it is a Thursday, and District of Columbia Emancipation Day falls the day after, on Friday, April 16, 2027.
One standing exception to the fourth-quarter date: you may skip the January payment if you file your full return for the year and pay the entire balance by January 31 (February 1, 2027 for tax year 2026 — January 31 falls on a Sunday that year, so the date shifts to the next business day; January 31, 2028 for tax year 2027). Farmers and fishermen follow a different schedule — a single payment by January 15, or a return filed by March 1 — under IRS Publication 505.
Source: IRS Form 1040-ES and Publication 505 (due dates and the weekend/holiday rule); 2027 dates computed by applying that rule to the statutory April 15 / June 15 / September 15 / January 15 schedule, checked October 27, 2026. The IRS had not yet published the 2027 Form 1040-ES when this page was checked.
The quarters are not quarters
The four payment periods cover three, two, three, and four months of income respectively — the second deadline arrives only two months after the first. The standard schedule still divides the year's expected tax into four equal payments, one per deadline. That mismatch is deliberate IRS design, and it is why the second payment surprises first-time filers every June.
Unequal income: the annualized installment method
Equal payments assume income arrives evenly. When it does not — seasonal work, a big contract landing in October — the equal schedule can overpay early in the year or underpay a period in which most of the income actually arrived, and underpayment is penalized period by period. The IRS answer is the annualized income installment method (Form 2210, Schedule AI): instead of dividing the year's tax by four, each payment is sized from the income actually earned through the end of that payment period, annualized. It takes extra record-keeping at filing time, but for genuinely lumpy income it aligns each payment with the money that had actually arrived by its deadline, and it can reduce or eliminate an underpayment penalty the equal schedule would have produced.
The safe harbour: how much is enough
You do not have to predict the year perfectly — you have to clear one of two knowable targets, paid through withholding and estimates combined. The IRS generally waives the underpayment penalty if your payments reach 90% of the tax you actually owe for the year, or 100% of last year's total tax — the second target rises to 110% of last year's tax if your prior-year adjusted gross income was over $150,000, or over $75,000 if you are married filing separately. Reaching either target, on time across the four deadlines, is the safe harbour. Payments above the harbour are not lost — they come back as a refund or apply to the next year — but payments below it are penalized like interest on each period's shortfall, which is why most freelancers deliberately aim at last year's figure when this year's income is uncertain and rising, and at 90% of a careful current-year estimate when income has fallen.
Reference only — not tax advice. These tables reproduce figures published by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in TallyUp's own words and layout for planning and reference. They are not published by, affiliated with, or endorsed by the IRS. Verify any figure you rely on at irs.gov or with a qualified tax professional before filing or paying.