How to Calculate Quarterly Estimated Taxes as a Freelancer (2027)

By Plainfield Media · Updated October 28, 2026

If you work for yourself, nobody withholds tax from your pay. The IRS still expects the money during the year, not all at once in April. That is what quarterly estimated tax payments are for. This guide walks through how to figure them for 2027, one step at a time, with a worked example you can follow on paper.

Not tax advice. This article is general information based on IRS publications. Your situation may differ. Check the current IRS guidance or talk with a tax professional before you file or pay.

About the numbers: the IRS normally publishes the next year's tax brackets and standard deduction in the fall. Where 2027 figures were not yet published when this was written, the examples use the official 2026 figures and say so. The 2027 Social Security wage base is already official.

Do you need to pay estimated tax?

According to the IRS, individuals, including sole proprietors, generally have to make estimated tax payments if they expect to owe $1,000 or more when they file their return. If you are in business for yourself, the IRS says you generally need to make them. You can skip them for the year only if you meet all three of these conditions: you had no tax liability for the prior year, you were a U.S. citizen or resident alien for the whole year, and your prior tax year covered 12 months.

Estimated tax covers more than income tax. It also covers self-employment tax, which is usually the bigger surprise for new freelancers.

The two taxes you are estimating

1. Self-employment tax

Self-employment tax is Social Security and Medicare for people who work for themselves. The rate is 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. It applies to 92.35% of your net earnings from self-employment, and it kicks in once those net earnings reach $400 for the year.

The Social Security part stops at a yearly cap called the wage base. For 2027 the Social Security Administration has set it at $192,300. The 2.9% Medicare part has no cap, and higher earners may also owe the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax.

You get to deduct half of your self-employment tax when you figure your adjusted gross income. That deduction lowers your income tax, not the self-employment tax itself.

2. Federal income tax

Income tax is figured on your taxable income: your business profit plus any other income, minus adjustments like half of self-employment tax, minus the standard deduction (or itemized deductions), minus the qualified business income (QBI) deduction if you qualify for it.

Step by step

Estimate your net profit for 2027. That is expected business income minus expected business expenses. Last year's Schedule C is a good starting point. Adjust for clients you have gained or lost.
Figure self-employment tax. Multiply net profit by 92.35%, then by 15.3% (up to the wage base for the Social Security part).
Subtract half of the self-employment tax from your total income to get an estimate of adjusted gross income.
Subtract your standard deduction. For 2026 it is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married filing jointly and $24,150 for head of household. Use the 2027 amount once the IRS publishes it.
Subtract the QBI deduction if it applies. For many freelancers below the income thresholds, it is generally the smaller of 20% of qualified business income or 20% of taxable income before this deduction. Form 8995 and its instructions explain the details.
Apply the tax brackets to the taxable income that is left, then subtract any credits.
Add income tax and self-employment tax, subtract any withholding (from a W-2 job, for example), and divide what is left across the four payment periods.

The IRS worksheet in Form 1040-ES follows the same logic and is the official way to do it.

A worked example

This is a made-up example to show the math, not a typical result. Say you are a single filer with $60,000 of expected net profit, no other income, no withholding and no credits. We use 2026 brackets and the 2026 standard deduction because the 2027 versions were not published yet.

Step	Math	Amount
Net profit	Estimate	$60,000.00
Net earnings subject to SE tax	$60,000 × 92.35%	$55,410.00
Self-employment tax	$55,410 × 15.3%	$8,477.73
Half of SE tax (deduction)	$8,477.73 ÷ 2	$4,238.86
Adjusted gross income	$60,000 minus $4,238.86	$55,761.14
Minus standard deduction (2026, single)	$55,761.14 minus $16,100	$39,661.14
QBI deduction	Smaller of 20% × $55,761.14 or 20% × $39,661.14	$7,932.23
Taxable income	$39,661.14 minus $7,932.23	$31,728.91
Income tax (2026 single brackets)	10% of $12,400, plus 12% of $19,328.91	$3,559.47
Total estimated tax	$8,477.73 + $3,559.47	$12,037.20
Per payment period	÷ 4	$3,009.30

Two things stand out. First, self-employment tax is more than double the income tax here. Second, about 20% of profit goes to federal tax in this example, before any state tax. Your numbers will be different, which is the point of running them yourself.

The safe harbor rules

You do not need a perfect forecast. The IRS says most people avoid the underpayment penalty if they owe less than $1,000 after withholding and credits, or if they paid at least 90% of the current year's tax or 100% of the prior year's tax, whichever is smaller. If your prior-year adjusted gross income was more than $150,000 ($75,000 if married filing separately), the prior-year figure becomes 110%.

The prior-year route is popular with freelancers whose income jumps around. You take last year's total tax from your return, divide it into four payments, and you are covered for penalty purposes even if this year turns out bigger. You still owe the full balance when you file.

When income is uneven

If most of your income lands late in the year, equal payments can mean paying before you earn. The annualized income installment method lets you match payments to when you earned the money. You show this on Schedule AI of Form 2210. It takes more record keeping, because you need your income and expenses for each payment period.

When and how to pay

The year is split into four payment periods with their own due dates. For 2027 those are April 15, June 15 and September 15, 2027, plus January 18, 2028. Our 2027 due dates guide explains why the last one is not January 15.

You can pay through your IRS Online Account, IRS Direct Pay, EFTPS, by card through an approved processor, or by mail with a Form 1040-ES voucher. The IRS also says you can pay weekly or monthly if that is easier, as long as enough is paid in by each due date. See IRS.gov/payments for the current options.

Don't forget your state

Most states with an income tax have their own estimated payment rules and dates. They are separate from the federal ones, so check your state revenue department's site.

Keep the numbers current

Estimates go stale fast when a big client signs or leaves. A good habit is to redo the math before each due date using actual year-to-date income and expenses, then adjust the next payment up or down.

Track it in one spreadsheet

The Plainfield Media 2027 Freelancer Tax & Profit Tracker logs income, expenses and mileage, then estimates each quarterly payment using these same steps. It works in Google Sheets and Excel.

See the 2027 Tax & Profit Tracker