Quarterly Estimated Tax Calculator

Turn your expected profit and tax rate into a clear per-quarter payment, so estimated taxes are budgeted instead of feared.

Currency

Expected net profit (year)

Income minus business expenses.

Effective tax rate to reserve

Combined income + self-employment estimate.

Tax already paid this year

Quarters remaining

Planning estimate — not tax advice

This spreads a simple profit × rate estimate across your remaining quarters. Your real liability depends on deductions, brackets, and local rules. Confirm with a tax professional or official guidance.

Pay per quarter

$5,000.00

across 4 remaining

Total tax for year$20,000.00

Already paid$0.00

Remaining tax$20,000.00

Per quarter$5,000.00

What estimated taxes are, and why they're quarterly

Employees have tax withheld from every paycheque. When you work for yourself, nobody withholds anything — so most tax systems expect you to pay your tax in instalments through the year rather than in one lump at filing time. In the US these are the quarterly estimated tax payments; other countries have their own payment-on-account schemes. Miss them and you can face interest or an underpayment penalty even if you eventually pay in full.

This calculator turns your expected annual tax into the amount to send each remaining period. Enter the net profit you expect for the year, the effective tax rate you want to reserve against it, and anything you've already paid. It spreads the rest evenly across the quarters you have left.

Picking an effective tax rate to reserve

The effective rate is the single percentage that, applied to your profit, covers everything you owe on it — income tax plus any self-employment or social charges, across all the brackets that apply to you. It is not your top marginal bracket; it is the blended average, and it is yours to set. Many self-employed people reserve somewhere between 25% and 35% of profit, but the right figure depends entirely on your country, income, and deductions.

Because the rate is an input you control, this tool asserts no official figures — work yours out from last year's return or a fuller tax estimate, then use it here. If you've already paid some instalments, enter that total: the calculator subtracts it first, so a quarter where you've front-loaded payments can come out lower, or zero.

Frequently asked questions

How do I work out my quarterly estimated tax payment?

Multiply your expected annual net profit by the effective tax rate you want to reserve, subtract anything you've already paid this year, then divide what's left by the number of quarters remaining. For example, 60,000 profit at a 27.5% rate is 16,500 for the year; with nothing paid yet and four quarters to go, that's 4,125 per quarter.

What if I've already overpaid for the year?

If what you've already paid is more than the rate applied to your profit, the remaining tax is floored at zero and the calculator shows nothing further due. It never returns a negative payment — it won't suggest a refund figure, only that no further instalment is needed at your current estimate.

Is this my exact tax bill?

No. It is a planning estimate built entirely from the rate and profit you enter, not from official tax tables or thresholds. Your real liability depends on your country, brackets, deductions, and filing status. Confirm the figure with a qualified tax professional or your tax authority before you file or pay.

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Last updated 2026-06-02.