We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover.
How We Make Money.
The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you.
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict
, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here’s an explanation for
Editorial Integrity
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.
Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.
Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information.
How We Make Money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.
We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money.
Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.
Remember how back in the beginning of Tax Basics we talked about withholding and how it’s an integral part of the federal income tax pay-as-you-earn philosophy? Well, Uncle Sam is committed to that idea of collecting income tax on your earnings as you receive them, even in cases where there’s no arrangement to have them withheld.
Tax generally is not withheld from alimony, interest, dividends, rental income, self-employment income and capital gains. However, since this money is taxable, you may be required to pay estimated tax on these types of income to avoid coming up short at tax-filing time.
Estimated tax is the method of paying tax on income that is not subject to withholding or from which not enough tax has been withheld. The system was designed to ensure that taxpayers who have a lot of non-withholding income pay into the tax system regularly to even things up between them and wage earners who lose a chunk of money each paycheck to taxes.
Timing of estimated filing
Estimated tax payments are made four times a year by filing Form 1040-ES:
Estimated tax payments
Estimated tax due:
For income received:
April 15
Jan. 1 through March 31
June 15
April 1 through May 31
Sept. 15
June 1 through Aug. 31
Jan. 15
Sept. 1 through Dec. 31
If the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, you have until the next business day to make the payment. The filing is considered on time if postmarked by the due date.
The IRS prefers you figure the total amount of estimated tax you’ll owe on April 15, divide it by four and send in equal payments according to the schedule. There’s a worksheet with the 1040-ES package to help you do just this.
You do not have to make estimated tax payments if your prior year’s tax return shows a refund or a balance due of less than $1,000.
Share