On a W-2 job, taxes come out of every paycheck, so the IRS gets paid all year long. On a 1099 nothing comes out, and the IRS still wants its money during the year, not all at once in April. That’s what quarterly taxes are: four payments a year, sent by you, covering the taxes nobody held back.
2026 due dates
| Due date | Covers money earned |
|---|---|
| April 15, 2026 | January 1 – March 31 |
| June 15, 2026 | April 1 – May 31 |
| September 15, 2026 | June 1 – August 31 |
| January 15, 2027 | September 1 – December 31 |
They’re called quarterly, but they aren’t even quarters. The second one covers only two months; the last one covers four. If a due date falls on a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next business day.
Your full tax return for 2026 is still due April 15, 2027. That’s where everything gets added up and squared away: if you paid too much during the year you get the extra back, and if you paid too little you pay the rest.
Do you have to pay them?
The rule: if you expect to owe $1,000 or more in federal tax for the year after any withholding, you’re supposed to make quarterly payments. For a full-time 1099 tech that’s almost always yes. A tech with about $7,500 of profit already crosses that line on self-employment tax alone.
If you also have a W-2 job, you can sometimes cover your 1099 taxes by having that job hold back more from each paycheck (change your W-4). Withholding counts as if it were paid evenly through the year, which is handy if you started late.
Most states with an income tax have their own quarterly payments, usually on the same dates. Check your state’s revenue department website.
How much to send each time
There are two simple ways to land in the clear:
Option 1: Pay what you set aside
If you’ve been moving a share of every check into a tax savings account, send what’s built up for that period. This tracks your real income: a slow winter means a smaller payment, a busy summer means a bigger one. Tech Tax Helper works it out for you: it takes 33% of your profit so far this year (checks minus work costs and miles), splits it between the IRS and your state, and subtracts what you’ve already sent.
Option 2: The “safe harbor” from last year
Look at last year’s return and find your total tax. If you pay at least that much this year, split into four equal payments on time, the IRS can’t charge you an underpayment penalty, even if you end up owing more in April. If last year’s income (adjusted gross income) was over $150,000, the target is 110% of last year’s tax.
Safe harbor is useful when your income jumps. It isn’t useful in your first year on a 1099 if last year you were on a W-2 with taxes withheld, because that number doesn’t reflect what you’ll owe now.
What happens if you skip them
Nothing dramatic happens on the due date. No letter, no call. But when you file your return, the IRS works out how much you should have paid each quarter and charges a penalty on the shortfall. It works like interest: 7% a year through the end of 2026, figured only for the time the money was late. How the penalty is figured.
The bigger problem with skipping isn’t the penalty. It’s that a whole year of taxes shows up as one bill in April, and most techs don’t have it sitting around.
How to pay
The easiest free way is IRS Direct Pay on irs.gov. It pulls the payment straight from your checking or savings account. No account, no sign-up, no fee. You pick “Estimated Tax,” “1040ES,” and the year, verify your identity with a few details from a past return, and get a confirmation number. Screen-by-screen walkthrough.
You can also pay by debit or credit card through an IRS-approved processor (they charge a fee), through your IRS online account, or by mailing a check with a Form 1040-ES voucher.
Keep the confirmation. Screenshot it or write the number down. Your tax preparer needs the date and amount of every payment to give you credit for it on your return.
Never miss one
Four dates a year is easy to forget when you’re running jobs all day. Tech Tax Helper reminds you before each one, tells you the amount for the IRS and your state, and walks you through the payment sites step by step. Then it saves your confirmation with your records.
This is general information about U.S. federal taxes, not advice for your situation. If something here doesn't match your paperwork, ask a tax preparer.