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Estimated Tax Payments - Next Tax Year (AFTER return filed) Electronic Funds Withdrawal
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To calculate estimated taxes for next year:

  1. From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop), click Federal. On smaller devices, click in the upper left-hand corner, then click Federal.
  2. Click 2021 Estimated Tax Payments in the Federal Quick Q&A Topics menu to expand, then click Yes.
  3. Continue with the interview process to enter all of the appropriate information.
  4. Select either Use worksheet calculation or Pay 110% of 2020 tax liability (100% if your adjusted gross income did not exceed the threshold), then click Continue.
  5. You must enter your estimated earnings in the 2021 year column (using the 2020 column amounts for reference) in order to calculate the estimated tax amount to pay.

Note. The method of paying 110% (or 100%) of the current year's tax liability is only to avoid the interest penalty for underpaying your taxes in the following year. In the TaxAct program, this amount is calculated on Form 2210 Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals, Estates, and Trusts, Line 4. Use the worksheet method to estimate tax for the following year if you wish to cover all of the estimated tax that will be due on that return.

After you have completed the Estimated Tax Payments section of the Q&A, you have the option to print Form 1040-ES Estimated Tax for Individuals, which includes the quarterly vouchers, and mail the payments or electronically pay the amounts due (both methods are outlined below).

Print vouchers and mail payments:

Online Users
  1. From within your TaxAct Online return, click Print Center down the left to expand, then click Custom Print.
  2. Check what you wish to print (the top section contains individual forms or schedules and the bottom section contains documents or worksheets). You may need to scroll down in the section to locate the items.
  3. Click Print, then click the PDF link. Click the printer icon or the save icon (available when you hover your mouse over the PDF form) to print or save the PDF copy.

Note. If you see a message indicating you have not paid your return fees, click the View/Pay your return fees link, which will direct you through the Paper Filing steps. Continue through the screens until you have processed the payment for your product fees and then repeat the steps to print.

Desktop Users
  1. Click Forms in the toolbar.
  2. Click to expand the Federal folder, then click to expand the Forms and Schedules folder.
  3. Double-click Form 1040-ES - 2021 Estimated Tax Worksheet.
  4. Click the Printer icon above Form 1040-ES.

Pay electronically:

To pay estimated taxes electronically once you have already filed your tax return, see the IRS Paying Your Taxes webpage.

Options to electronically pay your estimated taxes are:

Note that any link in the information above is updated each year automatically and will take you to the most recent version of the document at the time it is accessed.