How to pay estimated taxes online

If you work for yourself, you send the IRS estimated tax four times a year. The easiest way is online, straight from your bank account. It is free.

You need to get two choices right: the type of payment (estimated tax, Form 1040-ES) and the tax year it is for. This guide shows you how.

The free ways to pay

Direct Pay is the quickest if you do not want an account. The Online Account takes a few minutes to set up, but it shows every payment you have made. That helps in April, when your tax return asks for the total.

Paying with Direct Pay, step by step

Maya is a freelance designer. (She is an example, not a real person.) In January 2027 she pays her last 2026 payment, $2,100.

1. She opens Direct Pay and chooses to make a payment.
2. Reason for payment: Estimated tax.
3. Apply payment to: 1040ES.
4. Tax period: 2026. The January payment is for the year before. She picks 2026, not 2027 (IRS).
5. She verifies who she is with details from an earlier tax return.
6. She enters the amount, her bank details and the date.
7. She saves the confirmation number. Direct Pay cannot find it for her later (Direct Pay help).

She does not have to say which quarter the payment is for. The IRS only needs the year.

Which tax year to pick

This is the most common mistake.

• The payments due April 15, June 15 and September 15, 2026 are for 2026.
• The payment due January 15, 2027 is also for 2026.
• On April 15, 2027 you may owe two things: the rest of your 2026 tax, and your first 2027 payment. Make two separate payments: “Balance due” for 2026, and “Estimated tax” for 2027.

Paying by card

Two companies take card payments for the IRS. The fees on the IRS card page in October 2026:

On Maya’s $2,100, a credit card would cost about $37 to $39 in fees. Paying from a bank account is free, so most people use that.

On the due date

• Direct Pay counts the payment on the date you choose, even if the bank takes a day or two (Direct Pay help).
• Do not wait until late at night. Payments after 8 p.m. Eastern can count as the next business day.
• If you mail a check, mail it a few days early. Make it payable to “United States Treasury” and write “2026 Form 1040-ES” and your Social Security number on it (Form 1040-ES).

New users can no longer sign up for EFTPS, an older IRS payment system (IRS). Use Direct Pay or the Online Account.

Keep your proof

In April you need the total of what you paid. Keep each confirmation where you will find it. Righto can remind you of each federal due date. When the payment shows on your bank statement, you can attach the confirmation to that line, so the payment and its proof stay together. See vendors and tax reminders.

What to do now

1. Choose Direct Pay (no account) or the Online Account (keeps a history).
2. If you choose the Online Account, set it up now, before a due date.
3. Schedule your January 15, 2027 payment and choose tax year 2026.
4. Save the confirmation number.

See all the dates on our estimated tax due dates page.

Righto is free, easy to use and needs no account.

Sources

• Direct Pay with bank account, IRS
• Direct Pay help, IRS
• Types of payments available to individuals through Direct Pay, IRS
• Online account for individuals, IRS
• Pay taxes by card or digital wallet, IRS
• EFTPS: The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, IRS
• 2026 Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals, IRS