Comments on: Calculating and Paying Quarterly Estimated Tax Payments

By: hogarth

hogarth — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 18:06:12 +0000

What I don’t understand about the payment schedule is that it is not truly “quarterly”.
There is a 3-month gap between Jan15 and Apr15, then a 2-month gap between Apr15 and Jun15, followed by another 3-month gap between Jun15 and Sept15, and finally a 4-month gap between Sept15 and Jan15 of the next year.
Thus it would not make sense to submit equal payments, even if your income was the same each month.
Who developed this uneven pay schedule, and why is it uneven?

By: Chas

Chas — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:14:11 +0000

I am a US citizen working in Japan for a Japanese Firm.

I received a equivalent to a W2 from my firm.

Do I attach it to my return with the best English translation?

I have learned that I do not need to pay SS taxes since Japan & US have a treaty.

However, unemployment and medicare taxes need to be paid. How do I caculate the amounts and how to I pay the IRS.

Can you help

By: marvinwilliams

marvinwilliams — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:52:59 +0000

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT AMOUNT OF QUARTERLY TAX TO PAY? IN 2007
DUE TO STOCK GAINS I PAY $80.000 TO IRS. IN 2008 I EXPECT TO PAY $25,000 TOTAL…WHAT QUARTERLY TAX SHOULD I PAY? THANK YOU

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:31:03 +0000

My husband is a Owner Opperator and we need to pay quarterly taxes. Would it benefit us to lower my exemptions and take an additional amount each paycheck? How would he pay into social security and medicare.

By: Marcy

Marcy — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:35:19 +0000

My question is: I became an independent consultant March 1. So I had taxes with-held by my employer in Jan & Feb that are basically equal to what I calculate my quarterly tax liability to be. Do I still need to file a quarterly return in April, or could I wait until June? Obviously, the latter would be my preference.

I’m also wondering about state tax – is that normally filed quarterly as well? Does it vary by state?

By: jim

jim — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 16:02:16 +0000

It’s because you’re supposed to pay as you go, most people don’t owe taxes because of withholding, and the rules state that you have to either: 1) paid within 90% of what you owe, or, 2) paid more tax than you did the year before. I didn’t pay the penalty because I paid more than I did the year before.

By: joel

joel — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 07:03:17 +0000

I wasn’t aware of quarterly payments until this year, when I got to the end of my 1040 and discovered the quarterly payment/ penalty section. I too owe a healthy chunk because of side buisiness this year.

My first reaction was infuriation: why would I have to pay a penalty if I’m paying a lump in April like everyone else does? What’s wrong with holding on to my money for a few months until April 15?

Anybody have any history on quarterly payments?

By: ispf

ispf — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 21:11:29 +0000

[...] Your taxes are a little more complicated thanks to all those entrepreneurial ventures you have been juggling? You looked through the resources but are still not sure how to proceed? Then you might be interested at what Jim @ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity has to say about Calculating and Paying Quarterly Estimated Tax Payments. [...]

By: thc

thc — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 02:32:32 +0000

Jim: Our tax system is referred to as “pay as you go”. What that really means is, pay as you earn it. You asked if the payments need to be equal and the answer is no. You need to have adequate tax payments submitted to the IRS on a quarter by quarter basis. So, if your earnings are uneven it’s possible that all four payments are quite different than one another. It’s also possible that you only make payments for one or two quarters but not the others. It’s all driven by when you receive the earnings. Hope that helps.