Turbo Tax quarterly payment vouchers for 2026

TXTransplant

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I just did my taxes using Turbo Tax, and even though I'm getting a $184 refund, TT seems to think that I may underpay my taxes this year. My return was generated with four $697 quarterly vouchers and a warning that if I owe the IRS more than $1000 in 2026, there will be a penalty. I've never gotten these vouchers before (been using TT for almost 15 years)

I get the purpose of the vouchers, and I understand I don't have to use them. What I am confused by is how TT generated the amount. $697/quarter is almost $2800 in taxes! I would understand getting these if I under paid this, year, but I'm actually getting a refund.

I did have about $2000 in interest/dividend income that was offset by about $1000 in capital gains losses. But, even if I have an extra $2k in income next year and no dividend losses, that shouldn't be $2800 in taxes!

The only other thing I got was a $500 child tax credit. Again, even if that went away and I had that $500 plus the $2000 in interest income, I'm not following that I would be underpaying by $2800.

There is nothing else notable about my tax return. The rest is W-2 income. My final tax rate is about 15%.

Am I missing something here? How is TT generating these estimated payments?

TXTransplant

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2:29p, 2/8/26

I see what triggered it. The payments are just automatically set so that you pay 110% of what you owe. I think I hit the AGI threshold that caused these vouchers to be generated for the first time.

What a scam...just give the IRS 10% more than what you owe to "make sure" you don't underpay by more than $1000. No wonder the average tax refund is over $3000!

ToddyHill

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5:00p, 2/8/26

AG

Good for you that your quarterly payments are low. Both my wife and I were 1099's in 2025…so quarterly's are a fact of life.

TXTransplant

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In reply to ToddyHill • 5:12p, 2/8/26

I know they are a fact of life if you don't have enough withheld. But I'm not a contract employee or self employed.

It doesn't make sense to send them to W-2 employees who have paid more than enough in taxes for years. Especially if the payments are for 10% more than what will likely be owed.

I have no intention of giving the govt an interest free loan for no good reason.

Casey TableTennis

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8:44p, 2/8/26

AG

It isn't a scam. You could also pay in 90%+ of current year.

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TXTransplant

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In reply to Casey TableTennis • 9:08p, 2/8/26

Scam was a bit of hyperbole, but it does seem like a money grab. In principle, the IRS shouldn't be suggesting that people overpay their taxes by 10% every year "just in case".

In the few years I have owed money it's never been enough to trigger the penalty, I'm getting a refund in 2025, and 99% of my income is W-2, which means I can increase my withholdings if I'm worried about underpaying in 2026. There is zero reason for me to send the IRS money via a quarterly payment.

The text on the vouchers kinda seemed like they are trying to scare people into thinking they are going to underpay and owe the penalty.

Like i said this is the first time that I've ever gotten this. And I have enough sense to know that in my situation I don't need to pay quarterly taxes. But it did catch me off guard, and I wonder how many people see it for the first time, send the money in, and end up overpaying for no good reason.

Seven Costanza

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9:16p, 2/8/26

AG

If I'm reading your posts correctly, it is Turbo Tax that is suggesting this and not the IRS.

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one safe place

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In reply to TXTransplant • 12:25a, 2/9/26

TXTransplant said:
I see what triggered it. The payments are just automatically set so that you pay 110% of what you owe. I think I hit the AGI threshold that caused these vouchers to be generated for the first time.

What a scam...just give the IRS 10% more than what you owe to "make sure" you don't underpay by more than $1000. No wonder the average tax refund is over $3000!

I don't use Turbo Tax, I use a higher end product, so I cannot say for sure how Turbo Tax works but there should be somewhere in the program where you can check how you want the estimated tax payments to be calculated. Three or four options should be available and the choice you make should keep the estimated tax vouchers from printing.

TXTransplant

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In reply to Seven Costanza • 5:19a, 2/9/26

Seven Costanza said:
If I'm reading your posts correctly, it is Turbo Tax that is suggesting this and not the IRS.

So, I initially thought it was Turbo Tax, but I'm not sure.

The vouchers "print" as the first couple of pages of my the tax return that the program lets you download. It's formatted the same as the tax return, and the vouchers are supposed to be mailed to the IRS with the payments. The vouchers are definitely official IRS documents.

When I first posted, I thought TT was looking at my specific numbers and trying to tell me something about my return.

But it's just telling me to send the IRS extra money to "make sure" I don't under pay my taxes for 2026. Which seems to be based on an IRS rule (possibly triggered by my AGI).

If this were solely something TT was doing, it would make better sense for TT to suggest I increase my withholdings by $X per pay period to make up the difference.

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TXTransplant

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In reply to one safe place • 5:27a, 2/9/26

I will look at this.

I've never had the vouchers print before (and I've never made a quarterly tax payment, ever), and there was no indication when I was inputting my info that they would print.

So, when I saw my return, it caught me by surprise. But I will look in my user settings and see if I can turn this off.

Edited to add: looks like this is something TT does when you owe. But I didn't owe for 2025; I'm getting a refund.

I guess maybe a spike in my income triggered it (my company gave a bigger bonus last year; not expecting a repeat this year).

But it still seems like an odd/confusing thing to do. Just suggest that people increase their withholding. Or at least provide some context for the vouchers and the amount on them.

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mosdefn14

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7:51a, 2/9/26

AG

If you don't want to make quarterly payments, don't. It's not complicated.

TurboTax is likely generating those because it thinks the change of your income and withholding relative to rates was at a pace that could have you under withholding this year. It's suggesting you make quarterlies to get into safe harbor. If you don't want that advice, fine.

TurboTax isn't a CPA. A CPA might tell you to withhold an extra $100/check, but they know your situation personally (how are you paid) and can advise on that. TurboTax doesn't know how much of your w2 income was salary or hourly that hits the w4, a bonus/commission that is withheld at flat 25%, vested RSUs or options, or benefits (use of a jet, life insurance, car use) that might flow through as taxable income without actual cash being exchanged.

Also, as your investment account starts to approach $1mm, 2% dividends & cap gains is an extra $20k/yr of income that has no withholding... congratulations, you can take care of that with quarterlies.

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TXTransplant

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In reply to mosdefn14 • 8:32a, 2/9/26

That explanation makes sense, and it's what I figured. I had already decided to ignore them.

I just didn't understand what triggered the vouchers in the first place, nor do I understand how the amount on them was calculated.

TT does have a lot of my information. It knows that in pretty much every year I've filed with them, my W-2 income has been 99% of my total income and it knows that with the exception of once or twice in the last 15 years, I've always gotten a (small) refund.

So, the chances of me underpaying, much less by an additional $2800, are low.

Also, even if you need to pay quarterly, physically mailing a check to the IRS is about the worst way to do it.

I read a comment elsewhere online that TT wants to be able to say they "got you a big refund", so it over-inflates the quarterly payment estimates.

I just watch this stuff like a hawk, so when my return was different this years it raised some flags. Just checking to make sure this is "normal" given my fact pattern.

one safe place

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9:21a, 2/9/26

The software isn't looking at "trends" in your W-2 income or comparing anything. You have either checked a box or the software has defaulted to figuring estimated tax payments based on 110% of your 2025 taxes. (It is doing the 110% because of your level of AGI in 2025.)

Because you got a small refund based on your 2025 taxes and 2025 withholding, using 110% of your 2025 income tax would show a shortfall, thus the generation of estimated tax vouchers.

TXTransplant

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In reply to one safe place • 11:28a, 2/9/26

Thanks for confirming.

Just out of curiosity, does the IRS require that the vouchers get generated? Or is TT doing it as a "favor"?

I'm trying to better understand the requirements once your AGI exceeds $150k. Not sure that's going to happen again this year, but I want stay on top of it.

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Seven Costanza

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12:02p, 2/9/26

AG

I wouldn't worry about it.

If your withholding accounts for at least 90% of your total taxes, you won't have an underpayment penalty.

If this year you paid 110% of the amount of your prior year's tax (with AGI>$150k), you won't have an underpayment penalty.

Even if you don't do those things and wind up with an underpayment penalty, it is very likely to be a pretty meaningless number in your situation (a W-2 employee and the underpayment was due to not accounting for modest dividends/interest).

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one safe place

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In reply to TXTransplant • 1:12p, 2/9/26

TXTransplant said:
Thanks for confirming.

Just out of curiosity, does the IRS require that the vouchers get generated? Or is TT doing it as a "favor"?

I'm trying to better understand the requirements once your AGI exceeds $150k. Not sure that's going to happen again this year, but I want stay on top of it.

The vouchers were always printed assuming someone was going to pay by check. They have the social security number(s) printed on them as well as other numbers across the bottom, I suppose they are OCR so as to be scannable/machine read but not certain about that.

one safe place

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In reply to TXTransplant • 1:29p, 2/9/26

TXTransplant said:

I'm trying to better understand the requirements once your AGI exceeds $150k. Not sure that's going to happen again this year, but I want stay on top of it.

The only thing that happens relative to AGI in excess of $150k and the estimated tax penalty is that threshold changes your "safe harbor" amount as far as avoiding penalty.

If you pay in 100% of the tax shown on your prior year return (and AGI is less than $150k), then no penalty.

If your AGI exceeds $150k, then you avoid penalty if you pay in 110% of the tax shown on your prior year return

If you pay in 90% of the tax on your current year's return, then no penalty.

If the remaining balance due is less than $1,000, then no penalty.

If you file an extension, the date this must be paid remains April 15th. I was always uncertain of where I was going to be until very late in the year because of decisions involving equipment purchases in my businesses (and if they were going to arrive by December 31st) and the timing of the receipt of funds from larger invoices, so I almost never made estimated payments. I would know basically where I stood the first few days of January and would have issued myself a $100 check on December 31st, didn't know yet what the gross was going to be. If I needed an additional $30,000 of tax paid in, I would gross up the check such that the gross less the social security/medicare taxes and the federal income tax withheld netted to $100 and deposit the taxes by January 15th. If I needed no more tax paid in, then the $100 would be grossed up to a couple of hundred dollars and be done with it.

Withholding, unlike estimated taxes, is deemed to have occurred ratably throughout the year. Even though I had made no estimated payment on April 15th, one fourth of the $30,000 done at year-end is deemed to have happened on April 15th for purpose of penalty calculation, the same for the other quarterly vouchers. If a single voucher was paid on January 15th, the entire $30,000 would be deemed to be paid on the January 15th date, the final voucher for the year. None would apply to prior quarters for penalty calculation purposes.

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permabull

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4:44p, 2/17/26

AG

I agree with others it's likely just telling you what to withhold to safe harbor, which would be 1.1x your 2025 liability for high income. You don't have to safe harbor it just gives you a little protection if something happens like a windfall you didn't expect that makes your tax liability higher for this year. If you are a w2 you don't need to pay quarterly you can just add extra withholding on your w4. The IRS views payroll withholdings as on time even if you play catch up at the end of the year.

Safe harbor just means you won't be charged an underpayment penalty if you under withheld by a lot. So if for tax year 2025 you owed $10k, if you withhold $11k for 2026 you won't be charged an underpayment penalty even if you end up owing $15k+ for 2026 because you withheld 110% of your 2025 liability you are safe from that penalty in 2026.

If you are confident your withhold will be close enough for 2026 to not get a penalty you don't need to bother safe harboring

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MemphisAg1

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7:20p, 2/17/26

AG

I understand the OP's question and appreciate the answer also. I never knew how they calculated those estimated quarterly payments. I've used TT also for 15+ years and always just ignored those vouchers. I estimate my own taxes based on forecasted income and send in quarterly payments that combined with employer withholding equal 92% of my expected taxes. Avoids an underpayment penalty and lets me earn interest on that other 8% until it's time to send it on April 15.