When Are Quarterly Taxes Due? Every 2026 Date

Short answer: For self-employed US filers, quarterly estimated taxes are due 15 April 2026, 15 June 2026, 15 September 2026 and 15 January 2027. All four fall on weekdays this cycle, so none shift. Calendar-year corporations pay on a different schedule — 15 April, 15 June, 15 September and 15 December 2026 — and must pay electronically. Canadian instalments run 15 March, 15 June, 15 September and 15 December, and the UK does not use quarterly payments at all.

This is the calendar. For how the payments are calculated, what the safe harbour rule protects you from, and whether you owe them at all, read quarterly estimated taxes, explained.

When do self-employed people pay quarterly taxes in 2026?

Payment	Income earned	Due date	Day
Q1	1 January – 31 March 2026	15 April 2026	Wednesday
Q2	1 April – 31 May 2026	15 June 2026	Monday
Q3	1 June – 31 August 2026	15 September 2026	Tuesday
Q4	1 September – 31 December 2026	15 January 2027	Friday

The “quarters” are not quarters. Q2 covers two months and Q3 covers three. This is the single most common source of underpayment: people budget on a neat three-month rhythm, and the June payment arrives a month early relative to that assumption. Mark the actual dates, not “every three months.”

None of these dates shift in this cycle. When a due date does land on a weekend or a legal holiday, it moves to the next business day.

The January payment can be skipped if you file your 2026 return and pay the balance in full by 1 February 2027. For most people it is simpler to make the January payment.

Who has to pay quarterly estimated taxes?

You generally owe estimated payments if you expect to owe $1,000 or more for the year after withholding and refundable credits. That includes most freelancers, contractors, gig workers, and anyone with substantial income no one withholds from.

You generally do not need to if:

• You expect to owe less than $1,000.
• A W-2 job’s withholding already covers your total liability, including the self-employment side.
• You had no tax liability at all last year and were a US citizen or resident for the full twelve months.

Increasing withholding at a W-2 job is an alternative to estimated payments, and a useful one for a household with one salaried and one self-employed earner. Withholding is treated as paid evenly through the year regardless of when it actually happened, which can repair an underpayment late in the year that an estimated payment cannot.

How do I pay them?

Online, in minutes, at irs.gov/payments:

• IRS Direct Pay — direct from a bank account, no registration, free.
• EFTPS — the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. Requires enrolment, and schedules payments in advance.
• Card or digital wallet — accepted, with a processing fee.
• Form 1040-ES by post — still available if you prefer paper.

Select the correct tax year and “estimated tax” when you pay. Payments applied to the wrong year create a mismatch that takes months to unpick.

When are corporate estimated taxes due in 2026?

Corporations run on a different calendar: the 15th day of the 4th, 6th, 9th and 12th month of the tax year.

Payment	Calendar-year corporation
1st instalment	15 April 2026
2nd instalment	15 June 2026
3rd instalment	15 September 2026
4th instalment	15 December 2026

Note the fourth: December, not January. A corporation’s final payment is due within the tax year, not after it.

Key differences from the individual rules:

• The threshold is $500 of expected tax, not $1,000.
• Payment must be electronic, through EFTPS. Corporations cannot pay by cheque.
• The calculation uses the estimated tax worksheet in the Form 1120 instructions.
• S corporations usually pay nothing at entity level — profit passes through and shareholders make their own individual estimated payments on the schedule above. An S corp pays estimated tax only for specific corporate-level taxes such as built-in gains.

If you are a freelancer wondering whether this applies to you, it almost certainly does not: a sole proprietor and a single-member LLC both use the individual dates. The corporate calendar only starts once you have elected to be taxed as a corporation. See do I need an LLC to freelance.

What are the equivalent dates in Canada and the UK?

Canada

The CRA calls them instalments, and they are due:

Instalment	Due date
1st	15 March 2026 (a Sunday — pay by Monday 16 March)
2nd	15 June 2026
3rd	15 September 2026
4th	15 December 2026

Instalments are required if your net tax owing exceeds $3,000 ($1,800 in Quebec) in the current year and in either of the two previous years. Separately, the annual deadlines matter more: file by 15 June, pay any balance by 30 April. Details in self-employed taxes in Canada.

United Kingdom

The UK has no quarterly system for the self-employed. Self Assessment uses two payments on account plus a balancing payment:

Payment	Due
Balancing payment for 2025/26 + 1st payment on account for 2026/27	31 January 2027
2nd payment on account for 2026/27	31 July 2027

31 January 2027 falls on a Sunday, and some payment methods take several working days to reach HMRC — start early. Each payment on account is normally half of the previous year’s tax bill. See UK Self Assessment for the self-employed.

What happens if I miss a date?

You are charged an underpayment penalty, which functions as interest on the amount you were short, from the date it was due until it is paid. It is not a flat fine, and it is calculated quarter by quarter — so a payment made two weeks late costs far less than one skipped entirely.

Two things worth knowing:

• Pay late rather than not at all. The charge accrues daily. A late payment stops the clock.
• Safe harbour is the reliable defence. Pay at least 100% of last year’s total tax (110% if your prior-year AGI was above $150,000), or 90% of this year’s, and you are generally protected from the penalty even if you end up owing more. Last year’s number is already known, which is what makes it dependable.

If your income is genuinely lumpy, the annualised income instalment method on Form 2210 lets you match payments to when you actually earned, instead of paying in four equal amounts. It is more work, and it is the right answer for a business with one enormous quarter.

How do I know what to pay on each date?

By knowing your profit so far — which is a bookkeeping question, not a tax question. The calculation is in how much tax will I pay self-employed, but every version of it starts from revenue minus expenses to date.

Keel: Invoice Maker & Receipts keeps that number current on your iPhone. Invoices you have sent, receipts read on device by Apple Intelligence, and mileage at the IRS rate all feed Freeboard — one figure showing your cash minus a tax reserve, minus committed bills, minus a buffer you set. The reserve is the part that matters on 15 April: it is the money that was never really yours.

No bank connection, no cloud, no account; the App Store privacy label reads “Data Not Collected.” Freeboard is a planning estimate, not tax advice or a filing.

Keel is free with unlimited invoices, receipts and mileage; Keel Pro is a one-time $249.99 Lifetime purchase, not a subscription. Keel on the App Store.

Frequently asked questions

When are quarterly estimated taxes due? For the 2026 US tax year the four dates are 15 April 2026, 15 June 2026, 15 September 2026 and 15 January 2027. All fall on weekdays this cycle, so none shift. The periods they cover are uneven — Q2 spans two months and Q3 spans three.

When do you pay quarterly taxes? On the four federal due dates, if you expect to owe $1,000 or more for the year after withholding. Pay online through IRS Direct Pay or EFTPS at irs.gov, selecting the correct tax year and “estimated tax.” You can skip the January payment if you file and pay in full by 1 February.

How do I pay corporate estimated taxes in 2026? Calendar-year corporations pay on 15 April, 15 June, 15 September and 15 December 2026, electronically through EFTPS — cheques are not accepted. The threshold is $500 of expected tax, and the amount is calculated with the estimated tax worksheet in the Form 1120 instructions.

What happens if I miss a quarterly tax payment? You are charged an underpayment penalty that works like interest, accruing daily on the shortfall from its due date. Paying late is meaningfully better than skipping, since it stops the clock. Meeting the safe harbour generally protects you even if you end up owing more.

Do I have to pay estimated taxes in my first year of freelancing? Often not. If you had no tax liability at all in the prior year and were a US citizen or resident for the whole twelve months, you generally have no estimated tax requirement for the current year — though setting the money aside anyway makes the April bill survivable.

Are quarterly taxes actually every three months? No. The periods are three, two, three and four months long: 1 January–31 March, 1 April–31 May, 1 June–31 August, then 1 September–31 December. So the June payment falls due after only two months of income, and the four-month stretch from 15 September to 15 January is the longest of the cycle — which is where a tax reserve tends to get spent. Diarise the four calendar dates rather than a recurring three-month reminder.

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This article is general information, not tax advice. Confirm current dates and thresholds at irs.gov, canada.ca or gov.uk before relying on them.