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My quarterly tax payment plan was way off until I tried the safe harbor trick

I've been a freelancer for 3 years and always stress about underpaying. A CPA in Portland told me to pay 110% of last year's tax total as quarterly payments to avoid penalties... and it actually worked for 2024. My estimated payments were only $4,200 each quarter but I'm safe from the IRS penalty this time. Has anyone else used the safe harbor rule to take the guesswork out?
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aaronroberts
aaronroberts1d agoMost Upvoted
Did you check if the safe harbor actually requires 110% though? It depends on your income level from last year, if you made over 150k then yeah but if not you only need 100%. I still prefer aiming a little high each quarter just so I don't have to worry about the math being wrong.
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abbyhall
abbyhall2d ago
Solidarity here, that trick saved my butt too when I was guessing wrong.
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