Freelancer Taxes: Pay Quarterly Estimated Payments Without April Panic

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Check the first-year exception on last year's return
30 min
You need the filed 2025 Form 1040 — your paper copy, the PDF your tax software saved, or a transcript pulled from your IRS online account. Read two figures off page 2: adjusted gross income on line 11 and total tax on line 24.
The IRS exception: no estimated payments are required for 2026 if you were a U.S. citizen or resident alien for all twelve months of 2025 and your 2025 total tax was $0 or you had no filing requirement. Write both figures down regardless — the AGI number feeds the higher-income threshold tested in the next step.
- Find your filed 2025 Form 1040, or pull a 2025 transcript from your IRS online account
- Copy adjusted gross income from line 11 into your notes
- Copy total tax from line 24 beside it
- Confirm you were a U.S. citizen or resident alien for all twelve months of 2025
- Answer the exception: total tax of $0 or no filing requirement
- Date the entry

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