Business Tax Products - Estimated Tax Payments
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Per the IRS Instructions for Form 1120-W Estimated Tax for Corporations, page 1:

Who Must Make Estimated Tax Payments

  • Corporations must generally make estimated tax payments if they expect their estimated tax (income tax less credits) to be $500 or more.
  • S corporations must make estimated tax payments for certain taxes. S corporations should see the Instructions for Form 1120-S, U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation, to figure their estimated tax payments.
  • Tax-exempt corporations, tax-exempt trusts, and domestic private foundations must make estimated tax payments for certain taxes. These entities should see the instructions for their tax return to figure the amount of their estimated tax payments.

For S corporations, per the IRS instructions for Form 1120S U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation, page 4:

Estimated Tax Payments
Generally, the corporation must make installment payments of estimated tax for the following taxes if the total of these taxes is $500 or more: (a) the tax on built-in gains, (b) the excess net passive income tax, and (c) the investment credit recapture tax.

The amount of estimated tax required to be paid annually is the smaller of: (a) the total of the above taxes shown on the return for the tax year (or if no return is filed, the total of these taxes for the year), or (b) the sum of (i) the investment credit recapture tax and the built-in gains tax shown on the return for the tax year (or if no return is filed, the total of these taxes for the tax year), and (ii) any excess net passive income tax shown on the corporation's return for the preceding tax year. If the preceding tax year was less than 12 months, the estimated tax must be determined under (a).


If you have determined for your situation you need to set up estimated tax payments, follow the steps below to enter the information in the TaxAct program:

  1. From within your TaxAct return, click  Federal . On smaller devices, click the menu icon in the upper left-hand corner, then select Federal.
  2. Click 2020 Estimated Tax Payments  in the Federal Quick Q&A Topics menu and the program will proceed with the interview questions for you to enter or review the information regarding your estimated tax payments.
  3. The screen titled Federal 2020 Estimated Tax - Quarterly Payments will reflect if your entries have resulted in estimated tax payments and, if so, the following screen titled Federal 2020 Estimated Tax - Print 1120-W will provide the option to check a box to force the Form 1120-W to print with the return.   

Once you have completed that section of the Q&A, you can e-file them with your return or you may set up payments through the IRS Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) .