The final estimated tax payment for 2026 is due January 15, 2027. For many freelancers, it’s the easiest one to forget. It lands right after the holidays, when attention is on new projects and next year’s goals. But this payment is your last chance to catch up on what you owe for the year, so a little planning in the weeks before can save you money.

Checking what you’ve paid so far this year

Start by adding up the estimated payments you’ve already made in 2026. You can find them in your bank records or by logging into your IRS online account, which shows every payment applied to your tax year. Don’t forget any state estimated payments, which follow their own schedules.

Next, compare those payments to what you’re likely to owe. Pull your profit and loss report for the year and estimate your total net income, including what you expect to earn in December. From there, you can estimate your federal income tax and self-employment tax. If your income jumped in the second half of the year, you may find that your earlier payments fall short.

If you’re an S corp owner, your situation is a little different. The salary you pay yourself through payroll has taxes withheld, which counts toward what you owe. Your distributions don’t. Make sure your withholding is set correctly through your payroll for S corp owners, and plan an estimated payment for the tax on any distributions.

Accurate numbers matter here. If your books are behind, catching up now gives you a much clearer picture. Consistent freelance bookkeeping throughout the year makes this step take minutes instead of hours.

Avoiding underpayment penalties

The IRS expects you to pay taxes as you earn income, not all at once in April. If you pay too little during the year, you may owe an underpayment penalty, which works like interest on the amount you should have paid.

The good news is that safe harbor rules can protect you. In general, you won’t owe a penalty if your total payments for 2026 equal at least 90 percent of your 2026 tax, or 100 percent of your 2025 tax. If your adjusted gross income was more than $150,000, that second option rises to 110 percent of last year’s tax.

For many freelancers, the prior-year rule is the simplest target, since you already know last year’s number. If your income was uneven, with most of it arriving late in the year, the annualized income method may lower or eliminate a penalty by matching your payments to when you actually earned the money.

If you realize you’re behind, increasing your January payment can reduce the penalty, even if it doesn’t erase it completely. S corp owners have another option: increasing payroll withholding in December. Withholding is treated as if it were paid evenly throughout the year, which can help cover earlier shortfalls.

A few hours of review before January 15 can prevent an unpleasant surprise in April. With Collective keeping your books and tax estimates up to date, you’ll know exactly where you stand before every quarterly deadline, not just the last one.