Blog · 1 November 2026 · Tax year 2026
Quarterly tax due dates 2026: the four dates, the uneven quarters, and what happens if you miss one
“Quarterly” is a misleading name. The four estimated-tax due dates are not three months apart, and the income each one covers is not a neat quarter of the year. Get the calendar wrong and you can pay the right annual total and still owe a penalty. Here are the four dates for tax year 2026, why they fall where they do, and what to do about the one payment still ahead of you — the fourth instalment, due 15 January 2027.
The four due dates for tax year 2026
| Payment | Covers income earned | Due date |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1 January – 31 March 2026 (3 months) | Wednesday, 15 April 2026 |
| 2nd | 1 April – 31 May 2026 (2 months) | Monday, 15 June 2026 |
| 3rd | 1 June – 31 August 2026 (3 months) | Tuesday, 15 September 2026 |
| 4th | 1 September – 31 December 2026 (4 months) | Friday, 15 January 2027 |
The second period is only two months long, and the fourth covers four — including the holiday season, when many freelancers and online sellers earn a large share of the year. That is the practical reason the January payment surprises people: it is not a quarter of a quiet year, it is the settlement for the longest stretch of it. Run your full-year figures through the quarterly estimated tax calculator before January, not after, so the fourth payment reflects December income rather than a guess made in September.
The weekend and holiday rule
If a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the payment is on time if you make it on the next business day. For tax year 2026 none of the four dates shifts: 15 April 2026 is a Wednesday, 15 June a Monday, 15 September a Tuesday, and 15 January 2027 a Friday. Do not assume the same next year — the rule is what moves dates, not habit. (For comparison, the 2025 second payment moved to 16 June because 15 June 2025 was a Sunday.)
Who has to pay on these dates
You generally have to make estimated payments if you expect to owe at least $1,000 in federal tax for the year after withholding and refundable credits — the usual case for freelancers, contractors and sole proprietors with no employer withholding. If you also have a W-2 job, withholding counts as paid evenly across all four periods even if it was actually withheld late in the year, which is one reason the worked-examples post asks you to enter both figures. Farmers, fishermen and fiscal-year taxpayers have different schedules — see Publication 505 for those.
Worked example: four equal payments
Take the single filer with $60,000 of 1099 profit from our earlier examples: total federal tax for 2026 of $12,037.20 (self-employment tax $8,477.73 + income tax $3,559.47). Paid in four equal instalments, that is $3,009.30 on each of the four dates above — 15 April, 15 June, 15 September 2026 and 15 January 2027.
Equal instalments are the default, but they are not mandatory: you may pay more often than once a quarter, or pay the whole year's estimate by the first due date, as long as enough is in by each date. What you may not do is back-load — paying little early and catching up in January does not erase the earlier quarters, as explained in the safe-harbor post.
The January skip — and what happens if you miss a date
You may skip the 15 January 2027 payment if you file your 2026 return and pay the entire balance by 1 February 2027. That is a genuine shortcut, not a deferral: the return itself replaces the fourth instalment.
If you simply miss a date, the underpayment penalty is figured separately for each instalment period on Form 2210 — a short first quarter keeps accruing until it is made up, and a big fourth-quarter catch-up does not cure it. Meeting a safe-harbor target (90% of this year's tax, or 100% of last year's — 110% if prior-year AGI topped $150,000) on time in each quarter is what removes the penalty; paying the full year late does not. If your income is very uneven, the annualized income instalment method (Form 2210, Schedule AI) lets each payment match the income actually earned in that period instead of dividing the year by four.
How to pay, and one state warning
Federal payments go with Form 1040-ES vouchers if you pay by mail, or online through IRS Direct Pay or EFTPS — the IRS payment channels listed on IRS.gov. A mailed payment counts on its postmark date; an online payment counts when you make it, so do not leave the January payment to the evening of the 15th. And keep state tax on the same calendar: most states with an income tax require their own quarterly estimates, often on similar but not identical dates, with their own thresholds. This site covers federal tax only.
Bottom line
Four dates, uneven periods, one payment left: 15 January 2027 for September–December income. Put all four on your calendar with the period each one covers, pay each slice on time — or meet a safe-harbor target in each quarter — and size the January payment on full-year figures from the quarterly estimated tax calculator before the deadline arrives.
Estimate only — not tax advice. Figures are for federal tax, tax year 2026, under the simplified assumptions on the About page (no credits, no state tax, simplified QBI). Your actual tax depends on your full return. If a figure here ever disagrees with IRS.gov, IRS.gov is right.
Sources: IRS.gov — Estimated Tax; IRS estimated-tax questions and answers; Publication 505 (2026); Form 1040-ES (2026); Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (IR-2025-103). Due dates and weekdays checked 1 Nov 2026.