Estimate Taxes for the following Year
Recently I have been to a couple of sites where they allow you to do an estimated tax for the upcoming year. For example, if this is 2025, they have a tax calculator that allows you to do an estimated tax return for 2026 using the latest tax tables (as they are released) and any new tax laws that have come out (e.g., the new $6,000 senior deduction). It would be a nice added touch if you could provide a simple calculator for us that would allow us to calculate our potential tax situation for the upcoming year (i.e., like in the later part of the year - Sept or Oct or Nov - to be able to do a thumbnail sketch for what we might expect for filing in Feb of the following year). Has any thought about doing that been in the works? Just a nice touch, I think.
A couple of the benefits of doing the above would be:
- allow for more interaction with your customers who would come more often to the site
- allow for more potential customers, who would come to the site to do estimates and maybe come to file later on
- allow for more exposure than just the filing period
- allow for your current customers to be able to estimate if they have any potential tax liability for the upcoming year
This may have been asked for before - and if so, I apologize. But I think it would be a great enhancement to your site. — Ken
PS — really love this site since I discovered it a couple of years ago. Keep up the good work!
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Hi pyz01,
I'm happy to hear that you like our site!
I don't believe this is currently in the works, but I am happy to pass this suggestion along to our developers.
For now, our software for the coming year usually gets released in November or December—you should get an email when this becomes available. Once it is released, you can log into your account for 2025 and enter your estimates to get an idea of what to expect when you file your 2025 tax return. Just remember to update your 2025 tax information to your actual forms and income before submitting that return next year.
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Calculating next year's estimated tax is done in TurboTax as part of the filing process. TurboTax then prints out your 4 coupons for the quarterly estimated payments when you are ready to file. I would highly recommend this as a new enhancement to FreeTax since it is a requirement from the IRS. How will I know what estimated taxes I need to pay using FreeTaxUSA? Once I file my taxes with FreeTax, do I need to fill out additional manual forms from the IRS to do this calculation?
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Hi kaphillips98,
As you prepare your tax return to be filed with FreeTaxUSA, you'll have the option to create the vouchers or coupons you're referring to that will apply for the following year.
For instance, say your federal balance due on your 2024 tax return was $2000. Typically, other retail software might automatically print out four coupons of four equal payments ($500 in this example) to pay quarterly in 2025.
These vouchers or coupons are 2025, Form 1040-ES forms. They're used for estimated payments you'd use once a quarter in calendar year 2025 with a payment to be applied to the 2025 tax return filed in 2026.
These payments may or may not end up being the correct tax due for 2025. However, when you pay 100% of the prior year's tax due in the current year, you'll avoid the underpayment penalty for estimated taxes. Read more here on that topic.
In FreeTaxUSA you have the option to create these vouchers before you file your tax return and can print them for your use. Here's how.
First, complete all sections for the federal tax return in FreeTaxUSA in the current year. Assuming you have a balance due that shows in red at the top of the screen, whatever the balance due is for the current year, the easiest method is to divide that amount by four.
Follow this menu path to create four coupons for estimated tax payments for the 2025 calendar year: Misc > Payments > 2025 Estimated Tax Payments.
On the screen 'Do you want to make 2025 estimated payments?' select Yes to the question, 'Do you want to make 2025 quarterly estimated tax payments (Form 1040-ES)?' Save and Continue.
On the screen 'How much do you want to pay?' You'll see the four quarters where you can enter the amount you want to pay for each quarter. Again, typically, retail software divides the payments into four equal payments throughout the year. But you'll enter the amount you want to pay each quarter and that can vary. Save and Continue. The next screen allows you to View, download and print out the vouchers.
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Hi kaphillips98,
We have submitted a request to add a feature like that to our future software. Thank you for your suggestion.
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