Taxes File Your Own Taxes How To Get Ahead on Tax Payments for Next Year The IRS expects you to pay as you go, even with unemployment benefits By Beverly Bird Updated on December 19, 2022 Reviewed by David Kindness Fact checked by Vikki Velasquez In This Article View All In This Article Adjust Your Withholding Estimated Quarterly Payments Unemployment Benefits Stimulus Checks The Bottom Line Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Photo: Westend61 / Getty Images The U.S. federal tax system is a pay-as-you-go arrangement. Taxpayers are supposed to pay the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) relatively soon after they receive any income. This is usually done by making estimated quarterly payments or having taxes withheld from your paychecks. But this can be challenging, especially for the self-employed. If you were unemployed or had irregular income over the last year, it may be even harder. Here are some tips to ensure that you're paying the IRS in a timely manner and won't have to pay any penalties. Key Takeaways Your employer normally withholds a certain percentage of your income and sends it to the IRS on your behalf throughout the year. You can adjust your withholding by updating your W-4 form. If you're self-employed or didn't withhold enough in taxes from your unemployment compensation, you may want to make estimated payments. If you owe the IRS more than $1,000 in taxes, and don't pay 90% of what you owe in taxes throughout the year, you may be subject to penalties. Adjust Your Withholding Taxpayers who worked as employees throughout the last year might fare better than others who didn't when it comes time to file their tax return by the April deadline. If you were an employee, you've already paid taxes as you earned income because taxes have been withheld from each of your paychecks. This was done based on the information you provided on your W-4 form. Based on this form, your employer has been forwarding that money to the IRS on your behalf throughout the year. Note Your withholding should come pretty close to covering what you owe if you completed Form W-4 correctly and didn’t have any additional sources of income that you haven’t accounted for. Form W-4 can be changed as needed. The IRS recommends reviewing and updating it from time to time to ensure that the information you initially provided to your employer is still correct. This includes: Your filing statusThe number of your dependentsTax credits you’re likely to claimTax credits you won’t be able to claim again this year Did you pick up a side gig to make extra cash during a difficult year? You can request that more taxes be withheld from your paycheck to help cover this income. There’s a special line on Form W-4 for this purpose. You should also update your withholding if you had a big life change in the last year. This could be the case if you: MarriedDivorcedHad a childHad a child “age out” of dependent status during the tax year Note The IRS provides a handy tax withholding estimator on its website to help you get your withholding just right. Estimated Quarterly Payments Are you self-employed, or would you rather not let your employer know about any extra income you may have? You can make estimated quarterly income tax payments. These payments should be based on what you will probably owe on all taxable income at year’s end. If you're a sole proprietor or independent contractor, you must make estimated payments. Your clients and customers don’t typically withhold taxes from their payments to you. The IRS charges penalties if you don’t do so and come up short at filing time. But other taxpayers are free to pay in this way as well. Note To avoid an estimated tax penalty, pay at least 90% of your total tax bill by year’s end if you suspect that you’ll owe $1,000 or more in income tax for the year. These estimated payments are due to the IRS four times a year. Jan. 15, April 15, June 15, and Sept. 15 are the dates that quarterly payments are due every tax year. You can use tax Form 1040-ES to determine and pay your estimated tax payment. Unemployment Benefits Although taxpayers received a break on unemployment income that was earned in 2020, there is no such tax break for unemployment income earned in tax year 2021 or tax year 2022. Unemployment benefits are considered to be taxable income and you'll need to pay federal and potentially state income tax on that money when you file your return. Note The IRS offers an interactive tool on its website to help you determine whether your unemployment benefits are taxable. You should receive a Form 1099-G in January detailing how much you received in unemployment benefits. It should also show how much you had withheld for taxes if you arranged for withholding. If you didn't have taxes withheld from your unemployment compensation, you can also make estimated quarterly payments to help cover the taxes you owe on that income. Stimulus Checks The federal government provided stimulus checks to help many Americans during the 2020 coronavirus economic crisis. That money was not taxable income. Officially called “Economic Impact Payments” (EIPs), you might even have received a third stimulus check at the end of 2020 or the very beginning of 2021. That EIP was not included in your gross taxable income. The Bottom Line The amount of your income and how you earned that money can change from year to year. It’s important to know how taxes work with that income—whether you have money withheld from paychecks or pay quarterly estimated payments. Whatever you do, take the time to understand your income and how you can plan ahead for tax season so that you're not surprised with an unexpected tax bill. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) What are estimated tax payments? Estimated tax payments are quarterly payments individuals can make to the IRS to help pay their taxes throughout the year. You can elect to pay estimated tax payments if you work as a freelancer or independent contractor. You may also make estimated tax payments if you collect unemployment income and won't have enough in taxes withheld. Estimated tax payments can help prevent a surprise tax bill and penalties from the IRS. When are tax payments due? Your main tax bill is due April 15 (or the business day that follows if April 15 falls on a weekend or holiday). April 15 is also when quarterly estimated tax payments are due. The other due dates for quarterly estimated tax payments are June 15, Sept. 15, and Jan. 15. Where do you mail estimated tax payments? You can mail your estimated tax payments by first completing a voucher and then mailing a check or money order to one of three addresses, depending on where you live.If you live in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, or Texas, mail them to Internal Revenue Service P.O. Box 1300 Charlotte, NC 28201-1300.If you live in Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, or Wisconsin, mail them to Internal Revenue Service P.O. Box 931100 Louisville, KY 40293-1100.If you live in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, North Dakota, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming, mail them to Internal Revenue Service P.O. Box 802502 Cincinnati, OH 45280-2502. Updated by Hilarey Gould Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. IRS. "Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Certificate." IRS. "Pay As You Go, So You Won’t Owe: A Guide to Withholding, Estimated Taxes, and Ways to Avoid the Estimated Tax Penalty." IRS. "Estimated Taxes." IRS. "When To Pay Estimated Tax." IRS. "Form 1040-ES." IRS. "Economic Impact Payment Questions and Answers—Topic J: Reconciling on Your 2020 Tax Return." IRS. "Form 1040-ES Estimated Tax for Individuals."