What federal income tax form do I use to file quarterly estimated taxes?

If you’re self employed or otherwise don’t have taxes regularly withheld, you must file your own taxes. Payments are made every quarter. That means your tax day isn’t just April 15^th, it’s also June 15^th, September 15^th, and January 15^th. To file your quarterly taxes, you need the 1040-ES tax forms.

The 1040-ES series can be mailed to you by the IRS. Even easier, you can download and print these 2010 federal tax forms online.

Do You Need To File?
If you didn’t make any money for the first quarter, you shouldn’t have to file. You’re required to make payments only when you have taxable income. If that isn’t until the middle or end of the year, that’s when you should start to file these 2010 federal tax forms. However, consult a tax expert to make sure.

If your income was low enough that your tax would be less than $1,000 you may not have to file these 2010 federal tax forms. This is after you subtract withholdings and credits. Again, if unsure, consult a tax expert.

Filling out the Tax Forms
Filling out the 1040-ES tax forms is similar to the regular 1040. The main difference is you need to figure out your ESTIMATED taxes. You should refigure every quarter to fit your current situation. You don’t want to pay too much or too little!

You’ll need your expected adjusted gross income. Now, look at your most recent tax return tax forms. Find your total tax and your withholding on these tax forms. Subtract the withholding from your total tax. The number remaining is your unfunded tax liability. Simply divide this number by four to figure out how much to pay each quarter.

However, if you’re self employed, you must estimate your self employment tax. Find your income tax on your recent return 2010 federal tax forms. Now, divide that by your adjusted gross income. This is your average tax rate. Add your average tax rate to the self employment tax rate, which is 15.3%. Multiply this by the quarterly net profit for your estimated self employment tax.

Send in the 1040-ES tax forms along with your check. Or, you can pay your taxes online, much like filling out your tax forms online.

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