Paying taxes on income as a freelancer

[sfernholz]

Hi all, First post here. I started doing some freelancing work on the side this January, and it's taking off quickly! I'm fortunate enough to have a big tax bill I'll have to pay (ha!).

My question is, how do I pay taxes on the extra income? Can I just write the IRS a large check next April to cover the taxes? I remember reading that you get fined if you under withhold by 10% or more. I am considering sending in checks every quarter that are representative of the taxes I expect i'll have to pay.

To complicate things slightly, I'm doing the freelancing through a pass through LLC I just started.

[BGarcia]

Check out: irs.gov/businesses/small/selfemployed/index.html

For me I was told the first year I didn't have to pay estimated taxes, now this year I would have to pay every quarter. So, I would say about 20% of what you'd make in a quarter would go to that.

When I pay taxes I just add that I own my own business which you kind of do, doing freelance. I was told that there are small penalties if you don't pay every quarter (not sure how much).

[SnoopyCool]

I advocate making estimated tax payments. You can be penalized and have to pay interest if you did not make payments (depends on your situation).

Estimated Taxes

Payments are due 18 April, 15 June, 15 September, and 15 Jan.