Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals
Form 1040-ES is how self-employed people and others without withholding pay income tax through the year: a worksheet to compute the amount, and four payment vouchers, one per quarter.
This is the genuine IRS PDF, unmodified. Source: IRS official page.
What is 1040-ES?
The 1040-ES package contains the estimated tax worksheet and four numbered payment vouchers. If you expect to owe at least $1,000 after withholding and credits, the IRS generally expects quarterly payments, due around April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 of the following year. Underpaying across the year triggers a penalty computed on Form 2210.
This is a download-and-print form. The voucher boxes are small print-format fields, so we serve the genuine PDF for you to complete by hand or in your PDF reader, and most people now pay the amounts online instead of mailing vouchers.
Who files 1040-ES?
- Self-employed people, freelancers, and gig workers with no employer withholding
- Landlords and investors with significant untaxed income
- Retirees whose withholding does not cover their tax on the year
- Anyone the safe harbor rules push into quarterly payments
How to fill out 1040-ES
- Download the official PDF package below.
- Work through the estimated tax worksheet to find your annual figure, then divide it across the four due dates.
- Either pay online at irs.gov/payments, which needs no voucher at all, or mail each paper voucher with a check by its due date.
- Keep the worksheet; next quarter you only revisit it if income changed.
Get 1040-ES
1040-ES's built-in fields are not labelled well enough to list as a form here. Open it in the editor to type straight into the boxes on the actual pages, or download the official blank and complete it in your PDF reader.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to mail the vouchers?
No. IRS Direct Pay and EFTPS take estimated payments online with no paperwork. The vouchers exist for people who pay by check.
How do I avoid an underpayment penalty?
The usual safe harbor is paying at least 90% of this year’s tax or 100% of last year’s (110% if your prior-year AGI exceeded $150,000), spread evenly across the quarters.