“Do I have to pay quarterly taxes?” has a different answer depending on how your business is set up, and most explanations only cover one structure. A sole proprietor, a single-member LLC, a two-partner LLC and an S-corp owner all pay tax during the year, but the money flows through different pipes, and an S-corp owner usually needs two of them at once.
This guide explains quarterly estimated taxes structure by structure. For the 2026 dates and the penalty rules in full, see our companion guide to quarterly estimated taxes.
Quarterly taxes in one paragraph
US tax is pay-as-you-go. Employees pay through withholding on every paycheck. When nobody withholds for you, the IRS expects you to send estimated tax during the year instead, covering income tax and self-employment tax. Individuals generally have to make estimated payments if they expect to owe $1,000 or more when they file. For 2026 the four payments are due April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15, 2027, moving to the next business day when a date falls on a weekend or holiday. You can pay more often than that if it is easier, as long as enough has arrived by each due date.
Who actually pays, by structure
For most small businesses the business itself pays no federal income tax. The profit “passes through” to the owners, and the owners pay on their personal returns. That is why the question is really about who the owner is and how they are paid.
| Structure | Who pays estimated tax | On what |
|---|---|---|
| Sole proprietor | You, on Form 1040-ES | Schedule C profit: income tax plus self-employment tax |
| Single-member LLC | You, on Form 1040-ES | Exactly the same as a sole proprietor |
| Multi-member LLC (taxed as a partnership) | Each partner, on their own 1040-ES | Their share of the profit, distributed or not |
| S-corp (including an LLC that elected it) | Payroll withholding on your salary, plus your own 1040-ES | Salary through payroll; your share of the remaining profit through estimates |
| LLC taxed as a C-corp | The corporation itself | Corporate profit, once the company expects to owe $500 or more |
Sole proprietor and single-member LLC
These two are the same for federal tax. A single-member LLC is a disregarded entity: its income and expenses go on Schedule C of your personal return, and you pay self-employment tax of 15.3% on 92.35% of the profit, plus income tax, exactly as a sole proprietor does. The LLC protects your personal assets; it does not change your quarterly payments by a dollar.
The method is the simplest of all: set aside a share of every payment as it arrives — 25–30% is a common starting point — and send it in four installments. This guide works out your own percentage, and LLC or sole proprietor covers why the LLC is not a tax decision.
Multi-member LLC
An LLC with two or more owners is taxed as a partnership by default. The LLC files an information return each year and gives every member a Schedule K-1 showing their share of the profit. The LLC itself does not pay federal income tax or make estimated payments; each member pays their own, on their own Form 1040-ES.
The trap is timing. You owe tax on your share of the profit whether or not the LLC paid it out to you. If the partnership earns $120,000 and you own half, you are taxed on $60,000 even if the business kept most of it in the bank to buy equipment. Partners who only set money aside when they take a draw tend to underpay, so agree with your partners on regular distributions that at least cover everyone’s quarterly tax.
S-corp: the two-pipe system
An S-corp, whether a corporation or an LLC that elected S status, pays its owner in two different ways, and each has its own tax pipe.
Pipe one: your salary. An S-corp must pay a shareholder who works in the business reasonable compensation before it takes non-wage distributions. That salary runs through payroll like any employee’s: income tax is withheld, Social Security and Medicare are withheld and matched by the company, and the company deposits those taxes and files Form 941 every quarter, due the last day of the month after the quarter ends. If you use a payroll service, it does this for you.
Pipe two: your share of the profit. Whatever profit is left after your salary and other expenses passes through to you on a K-1. No payroll tax applies to it — that is the reason people elect S-corp — but no income tax is withheld from it either. That tax is due from you personally during the year, and it is the part S-corp owners most often forget. As with a partnership, you owe it on your share of the profit whether or not you took the money out.
You can fill pipe two in either of two ways:
- Quarterly estimates on Form 1040-ES, like any other self-employed person.
- Extra withholding from your own salary. Because you run the payroll, you can raise your W-4 withholding to cover the tax on the profit too. The IRS page on estimated taxes names this as a way wage earners avoid estimates altogether.
The second option has a useful quirk. For the underpayment penalty, withholding is generally treated as paid evenly across the year regardless of when it was actually taken, while an estimated payment counts on the day you send it. So an S-corp owner who realizes in November that they are behind can often fix the whole year with a larger December paycheck withholding, where a late estimated payment would only fix the last quarter. Ask your payroll provider or tax preparer before relying on it, but it is a real rule and worth knowing.
One more S-corp detail: the corporation itself can owe tax in a few narrow situations, such as certain built-in gains or excess passive income. Most small service S-corps never meet them, but if you converted an older C-corporation or hold investments inside the company, ask your preparer about it.
An S-corp year, worked through
Here are the numbers from our S-corp election guide, followed through the year. A single owner, $90,000 of profit before paying themselves, and a $55,000 salary they can defend as reasonable.
- Salary: $55,000 through payroll. Social Security and Medicare on it come to $8,415 in total, half withheld from the paycheck and half paid by the company, deposited on the payroll schedule and reported quarterly on Form 941. Income tax is withheld from each paycheck based on the W-4.
- Profit share: about $30,792. That is what is left after the salary and the company’s $4,208 half of payroll tax. It appears on the owner’s K-1, carries no payroll tax, and has no tax withheld.
- The tax on that $30,792 is the owner’s job. Either they send roughly a quarter of the expected income tax on it with each 1040-ES payment, or they increase the withholding on their salary enough to cover it.
The exact income tax depends on the owner’s bracket, deductions and state, which is why the useful habit is the same as for everyone else: set aside a percentage of the profit as it builds, and settle the exact figure with a preparer.
The safe harbor works for everyone
Whichever structure you use, the federal underpayment penalty generally does not apply if your withholding and estimated payments, made on time, add up to at least 90% of this year’s tax or 100% of last year’s — 110% if last year’s adjusted gross income was over $150,000. For a growing business, paying last year’s total in four equal parts is the simplest way to stop worrying about the penalty, though it does nothing to shrink the bill due in April. The details are in our quarterly taxes guide.
States, and how to pay
Most states with an income tax have their own estimated payments, often on similar dates, and many now offer an elective pass-through entity tax that lets an LLC or S-corp pay state tax at the business level. Whether that helps you depends on your state and your return, so it is a question for your preparer rather than for a guide.
Federal payments can be made through your IRS Online Account, IRS Direct Pay, the IRS app, or EFTPS. Businesses can also make many business tax payments, including federal tax deposits, through a business tax account. Whichever you use, keep the confirmation; it is your proof the payment arrived on time.
Keeping track without a spreadsheet
Every structure on this page comes down to the same discipline: know, on any given day, how much of the money in the account is already the IRS’s. That is the job BrassWell was built for. Every payment you log shows its tax set-aside before you can spend it, the Taxes screen keeps a running estimate with a suggested quarterly payment, and on Pro the S-Corp salary log and quarterly P&L statements keep the payroll side and the profit side in one place. It is an estimate to help you plan, not tax advice, and it does not file or pay anything for you.
Questions, answered
Do LLCs pay quarterly taxes?
Usually the owners do, not the LLC. A single-member LLC is disregarded, so its owner pays estimated tax on Form 1040-ES exactly like a sole proprietor. A multi-member LLC taxed as a partnership does not pay federal income tax itself; each member pays estimated tax on their share. Only an LLC that elected to be taxed as a C-corporation pays its own corporate estimated tax.
Do S-corp owners have to pay estimated taxes?
Often, yes. The salary an S-corp pays its owner has income tax withheld through payroll, but the owner’s share of the remaining profit has nothing withheld. The tax on that share is paid by the owner during the year, either with Form 1040-ES estimated payments or by increasing the withholding on their own salary.
Do I pay tax on S-corp or partnership profit I left in the business?
Yes. S-corp shareholders and partners are taxed on their share of the profit whether or not it is distributed to them. Leaving money in the business account does not defer the tax.
Can I use payroll withholding instead of quarterly estimated payments?
Yes, if you receive wages, including a salary from your own S-corp. For the underpayment penalty, withholding is generally treated as paid evenly across the year unless you elect otherwise, so extra withholding late in the year can cover earlier quarters. Estimated payments are credited on the date you make them.
When are 2026 quarterly estimated taxes due?
April 15, June 15 and September 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027, moving to the next business day if a date falls on a weekend or legal holiday. S-corp payroll is separate: Form 941 is filed quarterly, due the last day of the month after each quarter ends.
Sources
- Estimated taxes — IRS. Who must pay, including sole proprietors, partners and S corporation shareholders; the $1,000 and $500 thresholds; avoiding estimates through withholding; payment options and the penalty rules.
- S corporations — IRS. Shareholders report flow-through income and pay estimated tax on Form 1040-ES; employment tax filings; entity-level tax on certain built-in gains and passive income.
- S corporation compensation and medical insurance issues — IRS. Reasonable compensation must be paid to a shareholder-employee before non-wage distributions.
- Single member limited liability companies — IRS. A single-member LLC is disregarded for income tax and reported on the owner’s return.
- Partnerships — IRS. Partnerships file an information return and pass income through to partners, who report and pay tax on their shares.
- About Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return — IRS. The quarterly payroll return for wages, withholding and Social Security and Medicare.
- About Form 2210, Underpayment of Estimated Tax — IRS. How the penalty is figured, including the default treatment of withholding as paid evenly across the four due dates.
