When Tax Day Comes Four Times A Year

Posted by Nick Niesen on November 8th, 2010

For more than 10 million Americans, tax day comes up to four times a year. Many small business owners, as well as people earning income from investments, rental property or alimony, are often required to pay quarterly estimated taxes every April, June, September and January.

Many filers struggle to determine how much they owe, or worse, forget to make payments altogether-a costly mistake when underpayment typically results in additional penalties and fines.

"Paying estimated taxes is a real hassle," says Matt Hammond, a Tustin, California-based commercial real estate broker. "Having to account for things like safe-harbor computations, percentages and special rules that apply can be complicated. In addition, just remembering to send my payment on time is difficult and then I worry if it got there." Last year, Hammond was one of the taxpayers whose payment to the IRS ended up at the bottom of San Francisco Bay when a truck carrying 30,000 tax documents and payments tipped over.

Fortunately, there are ways to make filing "quarterlies" easier. For instance, a new online service from the makers of TurboTax fully automates estimated tax calculations and payment.

TurboTax Estimated Taxes can help eliminate the headaches and hassle associated with making estimated tax payments. The online service features a calculator to determine how much to pay, quarterly e-mail reminders and online record keeping, so tax-time surprises are a thing of the past.

In addition, the service electronically files payments and provides confirmation from the IRS-meaning filers like Hammond may get some peace of mind.