Second-Quarter Estimated Taxes Are Due June 15

If you earn money that no employer withholds taxes from, the IRS expects its second installment of 2026 by Monday, June 15. That covers freelancers, gig drivers, landlords, small-business owners, and plenty of retirees living on investment income. Miss it, and a penalty meter starts running the very next day.

The June payment is the second of four estimated tax deadlines this year, and it is the one people forget most often, because it lands just two months after the April rush. Here is who actually owes a payment on Monday, how much is enough to stay penalty-free, and the fastest ways to get it in on time.

Who owes a payment on Monday

The general rule, laid out on the IRS estimated taxes page, is that you need to make quarterly payments if you expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax for 2026 after subtracting your withholding and refundable credits. Wage earners whose paycheck withholding covers their bill can ignore these deadlines entirely.

The people who cannot: anyone with meaningful self-employment income, rental profits, sizable interest, dividends, or capital gains, and retirees drawing from accounts without tax withheld. The June 15 installment covers income you earned from April 1 through May 31, which is why the four “quarterly” deadlines are not spaced evenly. The full schedule and worksheet live in Form 1040-ES: April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 of the following year.

The safe harbors that keep you penalty-free

You do not have to nail your 2026 tax bill to the dollar. The law gives you two protective targets, and hitting either one means no underpayment penalty, no matter what you end up owing next April.

The first: pay in at least 90 percent of the tax you will actually owe for 2026, spread across the year. The second, which most people find easier because it uses a number they already know: pay in 100 percent of the tax shown on your 2025 return. If your adjusted gross income in 2025 was more than $150,000 ($75,000 if married filing separately), that prior-year target rises to 110 percent.

The prior-year safe harbor is the practical play for anyone whose income is growing. Pull the total tax line off your 2025 return, add 10 percent if the higher threshold applies, subtract any withholding you expect this year, and divide what is left by four. Pay that each quarter and you are protected even if 2026 turns out to be your best year ever. You would still owe the balance in April 2027, but with no penalty attached.

What skipping it actually costs

The penalty for underpaying is not a flat fee. It works like interest on the shortfall, calculated for each day the money is late, at the IRS underpayment rate described on the agency’s underpayment penalty page. That rate is 6 percent a year this quarter, and the IRS has already announced it rises to 7 percent on July 1, per the quarterly rate table. So a payment skipped on Monday starts accruing at 6 percent and gets more expensive two weeks later.

The charge is computed installment by installment. You cannot fix a missed June payment by doubling up in September; the days between June 15 and your catch-up payment still count. The cheapest cure for a late estimated payment is always the same: pay it as soon as you can, even if the deadline has passed.

How to pay by Monday

Electronic payments made by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on June 15 count as on time. The simplest route for most individuals is IRS Direct Pay on the agency’s payments page, which pulls from a bank account free of charge and requires no account setup. Select “estimated tax” and tax year 2026 so the money posts to the right bucket. An IRS Online Account works too, and shows your payment history, which is handy at filing time. Businesses and people who pay often tend to use EFTPS, though first-time enrollment there takes several days, so it is not the tool to start setting up this weekend.

Paying by mail still works: a check with the Form 1040-ES voucher, postmarked by June 15. Card payments are accepted through IRS-approved processors, but they tack on a processing fee, so a bank transfer is almost always the better deal.

If your income is lumpy, or you would rather use withholding

Two refinements are worth knowing. First, if your income arrives unevenly, say a big client payment or asset sale late in the year, you are not required to pay in four equal chunks. The annualized income installment method, computed on Form 2210 at filing time, matches your required payments to when the money actually showed up, which can erase a penalty for the lean quarters.

Second, withholding is the escape hatch many mixed-income households overlook. Tax withheld from any paycheck, pension, or IRA distribution is treated as if it were paid evenly through the year, no matter when it actually comes out. A spouse with a W-2 job can raise withholding in the fall and retroactively cover a shortfall from the spring. Quarterly payments enjoy no such grace; their timing is everything.

The June deadline rewards ten minutes of arithmetic. Check what you paid in April, check your 2025 total tax, and make sure Monday’s payment keeps you on pace for a safe harbor. The IRS charges generously for procrastination, and it never waives interest for a good story.