Your tax estimate
Set up your tax profile once, then see what you are likely to owe this year, updated as your books change.
Open your tax estimate
Choose Taxes in the menu (on a phone browser, the Taxes icon in the bottom bar). The first time, Tax Settings opens so you can fill in your tax profile. After that you land on your estimate. Use the year buttons to switch between this year and last year.
Your estimate is for planning, not for filing. Check with a tax professional before you file or pay.
Set up your tax profile in Tax Settings
Choose Edit Settings on the Taxes page (or Settings, then Taxes, then Edit settings). These are your personal filing details, so they cover all your businesses and you enter them once.
- Filing Information
- Filing status, state of residence, standard or itemized deduction, children under 17 and dependents 17 to 24.
- Other Income
- Additional W-2 wages, such as a spouse’s job or another job of your own, and any other income. Your business income comes from your transactions on its own, so do not enter it here.
- Withholding & Payments Made
- Federal and state tax already withheld from paychecks. Estimated payments are recorded by quarter instead.
Choose Save & View Estimate. Come back and choose Update Tax Settings whenever something changes, such as a new job or a new child.
Read your estimate
- Estimated Profit (Full Year): during the year, your profit so far carried out to a full year. YTD shows what you have actually made so far. For a past year it shows that year’s Net Profit.
- Federal Income Tax, Self-Employment Tax, Tax Credits and State Income Tax, each with its share of your income.
- Total estimated tax (before withholding): everything together, and what you have paid against it.
- After withholding & estimated payments: what you are likely to still owe, or to get back.
- Estimated Quarterly Payments: the four payments for the year and whether each is due, scheduled or paid.
Open Income & Deductions, Federal Income Tax, Self-Employment Tax or State Tax below the cards to see the lines behind each number. On a phone browser, choose View Breakdown Details.
Early in the year, or for a new business, you may see "We need a few more weeks of data". If your accountant gave you quarterly amounts, add them and the page uses those right away.
Keep it accurate
Your estimate is built from the business income and expenses in your books, so it is only as good as they are.
- Finish Review, so every transaction is in your books with the right category.
- Mark personal spending as Personal, so it does not lower your business profit.
- Update Tax Settings when your wages, withholding or family change.
- Log your business trips on Mileage.
- Record each estimated payment you make.
Business miles in your estimate
The trips you log on Mileage count toward your estimate, valued at the IRS mileage rate.
You can deduct a car by the mileage rate or by what it actually costs, but not both, and the rate already covers gas, repairs and insurance. So the estimate uses whichever is larger for the year: your miles at the rate, or the car expenses in your books. Under Income & Deductions, the Business miles line shows your miles and which one was used.
Your business type: sole proprietor, S-corp or C corp
How your business is set up for taxes changes what you owe. To see or change it, open Settings, then Manage businesses, then Business entity, and choose Change.
- Sole proprietor, single-owner LLC, multi-owner LLC
- Your profit is self-employment income, so the estimate includes self-employment tax.
- S-corp, or an LLC that files as an S-corp
- Your profit is not self-employment income. Set your reasonable salary (Reasonable compensation, then Set salary) and your payroll schedule in the same place, so the estimate counts your W-2 pay. Your dashboard profit reads Net Profit (Distributions).
- C corporation
- The corporation files its own return and pays its own tax, so its profit is not in your personal estimate. The Taxes page says so at the top. Your books here are still what your CPA needs to file it.
If your business changed type during the year, such as an S-corp election, choose On a date and enter when it took effect. The estimate taxes each part of the year as the type it was then. If the type was simply entered wrong, choose From the start.
Rental businesses
A business that files Schedule E for rentals shows Rental income on the Taxes page. Rental income counts for income tax and is generally not subject to self-employment tax. To change a business between a regular business and rentals, open Settings, then Manage businesses, then Tax form.
If you have more than one business
All your businesses go on one personal return, so the Taxes page shows one estimate for the whole return, with a "One tax return" banner that lists the businesses included and this business’s share. A C corporation is listed as not included, since it files its own return.
Payments you record are kept with the business you have open when you record them.
Cash or accrual (Command)
On Command you can tell us how the business files: open Settings, then Manage businesses, then Tax return method. Cash counts income when the money arrives and expenses when you pay them. Accrual counts income when you invoice and expenses when you are billed. Your tax estimate, quarterly payments and what-if scenarios follow it. Ask your accountant before changing it.
On your dashboard
The Tax Estimate card shows your estimated tax for the year and your next quarterly payment. Click it, or Details, to open the Taxes page. If you have not set up your tax profile yet, it shows Set Up Tax Estimate instead.
On a phone browser you can also add an Annual Tax Estimate card and a Quarterly Payment Reminder card, which turns amber when a payment is two weeks away: tap the gear on the dashboard and choose them in Customize Dashboard.
In the phone app
The Taxes tab shows your estimate, what you have paid and your next payment, and opens What-If Scenarios. Set up your tax profile and record payments on the web.