How to Calculate Your Quarterly Tax Payment as a Freelancer

Take your year-to-date net profit (income minus deductions) and annualize it.

YTD net profit through Q2:  $36,000
Annualized:                 $36,000 × 2 = $72,000

If your income is uneven (seasonal, project-based), use the IRS "annualized income installment" method instead — but for most freelancers, simple annualization is close enough.

Apply the formulas:

• SE tax = Net profit × 92.35% × 15.3%
• Half-SE deduction = SE tax × 50% (subtract from gross)
• QBI deduction = 20% of qualified business income (subject to limits)
• Federal income tax = brackets applied to (net profit − half SE − QBI)
• State tax = state's brackets applied to net profit

For $72,000 net profit, single, no state tax, this works out to roughly $17,500 in total federal + SE liability.

Subtract any W-2 withholding (if you have a side job) and any quarterly payments you've already sent in. The remainder is what's still owed for the year.

Total annual tax:          $17,500
Already paid (Q1, Q2):     -$8,000
Remaining for the year:     $9,500
Remaining quarters:               2
Per quarter:                $4,750

Don't want to do projections? Pay 100% of last year's total tax (110% if AGI was over $150K), divided by 4. If you do, the IRS won't charge an underpayment penalty even if you end up owing more.

TaxClutch does all four steps for you, recomputed every time you log a new invoice or deduction. The next quarterly amount sits on your dashboard — accurate to the day, with state-specific brackets baked in.