Form 1040-ES calendar
Calendar-year individuals generally make four Form 1040-ES installments. The "quarters" are uneven IRS payment periods, not four equal three-month blocks. The IRS has not yet published a 2027 Form 1040-ES — every date below is computed directly from IRC §6654(c)(2) and the §7503 weekend/holiday rule, not copied from an IRS PDF.
Next due date
Q1 2027 payment — April 15, 2027
Covers income from january 1 through march 31, 2027. Filed a Form 4868 extension on your 2026 return? That's a separate deadline — the extended filing due date is October 15, 2027, though any tax owed was already due April 15, 2027. See the extension planner.
| Installment | Income period | Due date | Planning page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | January 1 through March 31, 2027 | April 15, 2027 | Q1 guide |
| Q2 | April 1 through May 31, 2027 | June 15, 2027 | Q2 guide |
| Q3 | June 1 through August 31, 2027 | September 15, 2027 | Q3 guide |
| Q4 | September 1 through December 31, 2027 | January 18, 2028 | Q4 guide |
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The statutory Q4 2027 due date is January 15, 2028 — but that's a Saturday. Under IRC §7503, a due date that falls on a weekend or legal holiday moves to the next business day. That would normally be Monday, January 17, 2028 — except that date is itself Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal legal holiday (the third Monday of January). So the deadline shifts a second time, landing on Tuesday, January 18, 2028.
Self-employed workers, investors, landlords, retirees and employees with insufficient withholding often use Form 1040-ES. The site calculator tests the $1,000 balance-due threshold and current- or prior-year safe harbor.
The annualized-income installment method can reduce earlier required installments when income arrives unevenly. Keep quarter-by-quarter records for Form 2210 Schedule AI.
Filing your 2026 return in the 2027 season and expecting a refund instead of owing? See the 2027 IRS refund schedule for e-file timing and the PATH Act EITC/ACTC hold. Setting up payroll or benefits elections for 2026? Check the 2026 FSA contribution limits before your employer's open-enrollment deadline.
Missing the Q3 installment can cost you even if you catch up later. The underpayment penalty (Form 2210) is figured installment by installment: each quarter's required payment is compared with what you had paid by that quarter's own due date, so a short Q3 is penalised even if a later payment brings the year's total up to a safe harbor (the smaller of 90% of your current-year tax or 100% of your prior-year tax, 110% if your prior-year AGI exceeded $150,000, or $75,000 married filing separately). The addition to tax is figured at the IRS underpayment rate — see current IRS interest rates — from the September installment's due date until the earlier of the day you pay the shortfall and April 15, 2028 (the 15th day of the 4th month after the year ends); tax still unpaid after that date accrues ordinary interest instead. Check your exposure with the estimated tax penalty calculator, then catch up through the quarterly estimated tax calculator.
October 15 is a different deadline — it's the extended filing deadline for the 2026 tax return (Form 4868), not an estimated-tax due date. It never moved the payment deadline, which stayed at April 15, 2027. If your extended 2026 return still isn't filed after October 15, 2027, the failure-to-file penalty (5% of unpaid tax per month, capped at 25%; if the return is more than 60 days late, at least the smaller of $535 or the full tax due) starts running from October 16. In any month the failure-to-pay penalty (0.5%/month) also applies, the failure-to-file penalty is reduced by it (to 4.5%); interest keeps accruing from April 15. Estimate the total with the late filing penalty calculator.
Form 1040-ES installments are due January 15 of the following year under IRC §6654(c)(2) — but January 15, 2028 is a Saturday, so IRC §7503 moves the deadline to the next business day. That next business day, Monday January 17, 2028, is itself Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal legal holiday — so the deadline moves a second time, to Tuesday, January 18, 2028.
States publish their own estimated-tax forms for a year later than the IRS does, so the pages below carry each state's current 2026 due dates, safe harbor and payment portal — the schedule your Q4 2026 installment still runs on, and the one each state's 2027 version will replace.
Use these guides for rule explanations, planning context, and follow-up questions beyond the calculator result.
Four installments (4/15, 6/15, 9/15, 1/15), safe harbor 90%/100%
Form 2210 safe harbor, 90%/100% prior-year test, 7% rate
Every 2026 and 2027 IRS key date: April 15 filing + IRA, quarterly estimated payments, October 15 extension, 401(k) year-end
Estimated 2027 e-file-to-deposit refund timing, direct deposit vs check, and the PATH Act EITC/ACTC hold — clearly labeled as estimates
2026 IRS FSA limits: $7,500 DCFSA and health FSA cap, plus grace period, carryover and use-it-or-lose-it rules
The 11 federal holidays in 2027 with weekdays, observed dates for weekend holidays, and what closes