Reminder: Q2 estimated tax payment is due Monday, June 15
Quick PSA since this catches first-year owner-ops every time.
If you're 1099 / sole prop / LLC and you expect to owe more than $1,000 in taxes this year, the IRS wants you to pay throughout the year, not just in April. Q2 deadline is June 15 (this coming Monday).
Q2 covers what you earned April 1 - May 31. Skip it and you start racking up the underpayment penalty (currently around 8% annualized) until you catch up. Not catastrophic but pure waste.
Quick way to figure what to send:
Pull your gross from April-May settlements. Subtract your business expenses for those months (fuel, repairs, insurance, payments, etc.). What's left = your net profit for the quarter.
Send roughly 25-30% of that net to the IRS. That covers federal income tax + SE tax (15.3%). If you're in a state with income tax, send another 5-9% to your state separately.
Quick math example - say you grossed $42K in April-May, expenses were $28K, net = $14K. Send the IRS around $3,500-4,200. Your state estimate depends on which state.
How to actually pay (5 minutes):
irs.gov/payments → Direct Pay → "Estimated Tax" → "Form 1040-ES" → tax year 2026 → enter bank info → done. Save the confirmation.
For state: just google "[your state] estimated tax payment" - every state has its own portal.
The safe harbor backup:
If you don't want to do the math each quarter, just pay 1/4 of last year's total tax bill each quarter. As long as that adds up to 100% of last year (110% if you grossed over $150K) - no penalty, even if you owe more in April.
If you missed Q1 in April:
Send it now along with Q2. Yes you'll owe a small penalty for the months you were late on Q1, but the longer you wait the worse it gets.
Set a phone reminder for Sep 15 (Q3) and Jan 15 (Q4) while you're at it.