Quarterly Estimated Tax Calculator — Washington (2026)
If you earn income in Washington without withholding — freelancing, contracting, rentals, dividends — the IRS expects payment four times a year, not once. This calculator turns your expected 2026 net profit into a per-quarter number covering self-employment tax, federal income tax and no state tax, since Washington has none. Washington does not levy a personal state income tax, so the only mandatory withholding on your earnings is federal income tax plus FICA (Social Security and Medicare).
Washington Quarterly Tax Calculator
Gross 1099 income minus business expenses.
2026 due dates and safe harbor
Federal estimated payments are due April 15, June 15, September 15 of 2026 and January 15 of 2027. You avoid penalties by paying either 90% of the current year's liability or 100% of last year's (110% if prior-year AGI exceeded $150,000) — the safe-harbor rule.
There is no Washington estimated payment to make — the state does not tax personal income, so you only file federally.
Underpayment penalties
The IRS charges interest-style penalties per quarter you fall short, currently around 7–8% annualized. Paying late in the year does not fix an early-quarter shortfall unless you use the annualized income method on Form 2210.
Irregular income is common in tech work around Seattle: if Q1 is slow and Q4 is huge, the annualized method usually beats four equal payments.
Paying as a Washington taxpayer
Pay federally through IRS Direct Pay or EFTPS — no state portal is needed.
Washington has no income tax on wages, but enacted a 7% capital gains tax (above $262K) in 2022. State sales tax is 6.5% (up to 10.4% locally).
Local and payroll taxes Washington adds on top
Paid Family and Medical Leave takes roughly 0.42% of wages and WA Cares long-term care insurance another 0.58%. That deduction sits outside the federal and state income tax lines, so build it into your own budget on top of the numbers above.
Washington has no income tax on wages, but enacted a 7% capital gains tax (above $262K) in 2022. State sales tax is 6.5% (up to 10.4% locally).
Nobody withholds these for you when you are self-employed in Washington. Local wage taxes, city business licences and gross-receipts style levies are yours to register for and remit alongside your quarterly federal and state estimates.
Working across a state line from Washington
Washington has no income-tax reciprocity agreements, so if you live here and work across a state line you generally file a nonresident return in the work state and claim a credit at home to avoid double taxation.
Remote and hybrid work complicates this further: most states tax income where the work is physically performed, so a Seattle resident spending part of the year at a client site in Oregon may owe a nonresident return there. Keep a day-count log if you split time between states.
The rest of your Washington tax bill
Washington charges a 6.5% state sales tax, homeowners pay an average effective property tax of 0.94% of market value, and the minimum wage in force during 2026 is $17.13 an hour.
Seattle's combined rate is about 10.35%, among the highest nationwide.
Income tax is only one part of a state's take. Washington recovers revenue through sales and property tax as well, which is why headline income tax rates alone are a poor guide to how far a salary really goes. With no income tax on wages, retirement distributions are untaxed; only capital gains above $270,000 face the 7% excise tax.
Washington vs Oregon on the same salary
On a $90,000 salary, a single filer keeps about $72,145 a year in Washington against roughly $64,811 in Oregon — a difference of $7,334, or $611 a month.
Effective combined rates are 19.8% in Washington and 28.0% in Oregon. Set that gap against living costs: index 116 here versus 115 there, with property tax at 0.94% and 0.93% respectively.