Quarterly Estimated Taxes Why the June payment covers only two months

June covers April and May

Many owners call the June payment the second quarter. On a calendar year, it covers April and May and stops there. March income was part of the April payment, so June isn't a second bill for March.

The short period matters most if you use the annualized income method. Then the June payment depends on what you earned from January through May. If April and May were slow, June can be smaller than April. If they were busy, June can be larger.

When copying April's payment is fine

If April's payment was one-fourth of last year's total tax, send the same amount in June. If last year's adjusted gross income was over $150,000, use one-fourth of 110 percent of that tax instead. That's how the safe harbor works.

When you pay from last year's tax, how much you earned in April and May doesn't change the June payment. You don't have to rebuild two months of numbers. That's why we try last year's total tax first.

When copying April's payment goes wrong

Copying April is a problem when April's number was a guess about this year. If the year turns out different from the guess, June repeats the same mistake. Nothing on your bank statement will show it. You find out when an IRS letter arrives after you file.

If that letter comes, we go over the penalty with you. We match the date on the letter to June, September or January. Then we look at what that payment was based on: a copy of April, your books or last year's tax. The page on the quarterly estimated tax penalty shows how the amount is figured.

If you didn't file a return last year, there's no last-year number to use. Then we set June from your books for April and May. A business in its first spring often has one of those months finished and not the other. We use the finished month and tell you which one still needs work.

When you might not need a June payment

You generally have to make estimated payments only if you expect to owe at least $1,000 for the year after your withholding and refundable credits. Tax taken out of a paycheck counts. If your paycheck already covers the safe harbor, you may not need to send anything in June.

The safe harbor is the smaller of two amounts. One is 90 percent of the tax you expect to owe this year. The other is all of last year's total tax. When last year's adjusted gross income topped $150,000, use 110 percent of last year's tax for that second amount. If you're married and file a separate return, the limit is $75,000.

If you had no tax at all last year, were a U.S. citizen or resident for the whole year and last year's return covered 12 months, you won't owe an underpayment penalty this year.

A job and a business both end up on the same personal return. Giving your business its own name doesn't create a second set of personal payments.

Farmers, fishermen and the January exception

Farmers and commercial fishermen have their own rules. If at least two-thirds of your gross income comes from farming or fishing, the 90 percent becomes 66 2/3 percent, and you have only one due date, January 15.

There's also a January exception for everyone else. If you file your return by January 31 and pay the full balance, you don't need to make the January 15 payment.

Neither rule changes the June period. If one of them fits you, mention it in your note, and still bring last year's return or your books.

Questions owners ask about June

Can I pay June early? Yes. You can pay any time before the due date. Some owners pay a little each month, and that's fine as long as enough is paid by June 15.

If April came up short, does June fix it? Partly. A payment first goes toward the earliest payment that came up short. So a bigger June payment can cover April's gap, but April was still late for the days in between.

Is June 15 always the date? It is unless it falls on a weekend or a federal holiday. In 2027, June 15 is a Tuesday, so the payment is due that day.

What to bring for June

Bring last year's return, your books for the months that are finished or your paycheck withholding so far. Those are the numbers that set June correctly. If all you have is the amount you sent in April, bring that too, and we'll check what it was based on.

The page on what to divide by four shows what happens when a guess gets split into four payments. The page on whether quarterly estimated taxes are equal covers all four periods side by side.

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