Estimated tax due dates for 2026, period by period
The IRS calendar for estimated tax is not split into equal quarters. Here are the four 2026 deadlines, what each one pays for, and the cases where a date moves.
Federal payment due each quarter
$3,500
Safe harbor used: 100% of last year ($14,000 for the year)
| Payment 1, due April 15, 2026 | $3,500 |
| Payment 2, due June 15, 2026 | $3,500 |
| Payment 3, due September 15, 2026 | $3,500 |
| Payment 4, due January 15, 2027 | $3,500 |
| Expected 2026 federal tax (income + SE) | $19,316 |
| California income tax for the year | $3,390 |
Computed by Radif Partners from IRS documents for tax year 2026 · How we calculate · no email asked, nothing sold
The four estimated tax due dates for 2026 are April 15, 2026, June 15, 2026, September 15, 2026 and January 15, 2027. They do not match calendar quarters: the first covers January 1 to March 31, the second only April 1 to May 31, the third June 1 to August 31 and the last September 1 to December 31, which is why the June deadline arrives just 61 days after the April one. A payment due on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday is on time the next business day, and a mailed payment counts on its U.S. postmark date. You may skip the January installment entirely if you file the 2026 return by February 1, 2027 and pay the full balance with it. Farmers and fishermen who earn at least two-thirds of gross income from that work have a single date, January 15, 2027, or none if they file and pay by March 1, 2027. Fiscal-year filers count from the start of their own year instead.
Most people call them quarterly payments, yet the windows behind them run three, two, three and four months long. The IRS divides 2026 into four payment periods in Publication 505, and each one has its own deadline. Paying late for one period is judged on its own, which is why a generous January check does not cure a missed June installment. Looking at what each deadline is meant to cover makes the uneven spacing easier to plan around.
One missed payment: the cost
Penalty if paid April 15, 2027
$174
| Days late | 304 |
| Rate (2026) | 6% to 7% a year |
The 2026 calendar at a glance
| Payment | Income earned | Due | Weekday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installment 1 | January 1 to March 31 | April 15, 2026 | Wednesday |
| Installment 2 | April 1 to May 31 | June 15, 2026 | Monday |
| Installment 3 | June 1 to August 31 | September 15, 2026 | Tuesday |
| Installment 4 | September 1 to December 31 | January 15, 2027 | Friday |
None of the four 2026 dates lands on a weekend, so no deadline shifts this year. The short spring window is the one that catches people out. Income from April 1 to May 31 is due June 15, 2026, only 61 days after the first installment, while the last window stretches over September 1 to December 31 and leaves 122 days before its deadline. A freelancer who budgets a fixed amount every three months will feel the squeeze in June and have room to spare in the fall.
Weekends, holidays and the postmark
When a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, a payment made on the next day that is none of those is on time; Pub 509 lists the holidays. A check sent by mail is treated as paid on the date of the U.S. postmark. The 2026 editions of Form 1040-ES and Pub 505 add a warning here: under a recent clarification of Postal Service rules, the postmark is the date the item is processed at a facility, which may be later than the day you dropped it in a mailbox. Paying electronically sidesteps the question.
Skipping the January installment
The fourth payment is optional for anyone who files the full 2026 return early. Form 1040-ES says you do not have to make the January 15, 2027 payment if you file by February 1, 2027 and pay the entire balance due with the return. Pub 505 words the same rule with January 31, 2027, which is a Sunday, so the next business day applies.
The exception covers only the last period. Pub 505 gives the example of someone who paid nothing during 2026 and filed with full payment on January 26, 2027: the fourth installment counts as paid on time, but a penalty can still apply to the first three, figured up to the day of filing. Filing early is realistic for a sole proprietor with simple books and all 1099 forms in hand; it is rarely possible for anyone waiting on a K-1.
Starting partway through the year
You do not owe anything until you have income that will carry tax. Table 2-1 of Pub 505 sets the first deadline by the period in which that income first shows up, and the remaining installments follow the normal calendar.
- Income before April 1: first payment April 15, 2026, then the other three dates.
- Income first earned April 1 to May 31: start June 15, 2026, then September 15, 2026 and January 15, 2027.
- Income first earned June 1 to August 31: start September 15, 2026, finish January 15, 2027.
- Income first earned after August 31: a single payment on January 15, 2027.
Someone who opens a business in July therefore has two installments for 2026, not four. Form 1040-ES adds that if a large change after March 31 forces you to begin paying, the annualized income installment method is the way to size the payments; the estimated taxes guide covers how that method works.
Farmers and fishermen
If at least two-thirds of your gross income for 2025 or 2026 comes from farming or fishing, the first three deadlines do not apply. You have one due date, January 15, 2027, for the whole year's estimated tax. Better still, filing the 2026 Form 1040 by March 1, 2027 and paying everything due at that time removes the need for any estimated payment. The same group is also held to a lower current-year percentage and is excluded from the higher-income rule, both explained on the safe harbor page. A fiscal-year farmer either pays all estimated tax by the 15th day after the year ends or files and pays by the first day of the third month after it.
Fiscal-year taxpayers
A tax year that ends on any day other than December 31 moves every deadline. The installments are due on the 15th day of the 4th, 6th and 9th months of the fiscal year and on the 15th day of the first month of the next one. The early-filing exception works the same way: file and pay everything by the last day of the first month after the year ends and the final installment is not needed.
Putting the dates in your own calendar
Paying through IRS Direct Pay or EFTPS lets you schedule each installment ahead, so the money leaves on the deadline even if you are traveling. States that tax income set their own estimated-tax rules and dates; check your state revenue department's page or the state income tax comparison. When a payment slips, the cost is an interest-like charge for each day it stays unpaid, computed on the underpayment penalty page.