Everyone knows that income tax preparation software packages can come in handy for those
who prepare their own income tax returns. Once the return is filed, the software is
uninstalled and most taxpayers won't think about income taxes again until the next time
a return is due.
For small business taxpayers such as Schedule C business owners (i.e., self-employed,
sole proprietors, and disregarded LLC owners), life is a little more complicated. Federal
income taxes must be estimated and remitted in multiple payments on a preset schedule
during the year. The IRS provides Form 1040-ES for this purpose, but manually completing
the form and calculations (along with the related self-employment tax deduction) can be a
headache -- particularly for the less tax-savy.
Luckily, TurboTax Home and Business has a great set of tools for this purpose. It's odd that
Intuit doesn't promote these tools better, since they are probably one of the best reasons
for small business owners to leave the software installed on their computer year-round.
The first tool is the Estimated Tax Payment Options form. Here, you can specify whether to
calculate estimated income tax based on last year's taxes or on a percentage of this year's
estimated taxable income. Once you complete the form, TurboTax will indicate the amount of
tax due for each payment and even prepare the Form 1040-ES estimated tax payment vouchers
for you.
If you choose to base the estimated tax payments on a percentage of this year's estimated
taxable income, the Estimated Tax Payment Options form will be linked to the second
tool: the Estimated Taxes and Form W-4 Worksheet. This form allows you to enter detailed
information concerning your estimated income, deductions, tax due, and tax paid for the
current year.
The worksheet allows you to break down income and taxes withheld for each spouse, and you can
enter supporting details for worksheet line items. Last year's actual tax information
is displayed in a separate column so you can quickly and easily compare your estimates for
reasonability.
You can also right-click on items displayed in the actual column to drill-down to the source.
This is helpful if you need to understand how a particular number was derived so you can
remain consistent (and hopefully accurate) in your estimate.
Last but not least, using TurboTax to calculate your estimated tax payments eliminates the
need to perform multiple manual calculations and worry about clerical errors. You can get
back to work faster and do what you really want to do.
[Full Disclosure: I am a compensated affiliate of TurboTax®
products.]
